SPACE LAUNCHES HAPPENING IN THE COMING WEEK - It appears like it’s going to be a busy few days for the private space industry, as both SpaceX and Orbital Sciences will be launching spacecrafts in the coming week. SpaceX, which has made a demo flight and two cargo flights to the International Space Station, will be launching a new, stretched version of the Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with a Canadian spacecraft on board. But it’s a test flight, and it will be the first time that they are launching the rocket from a place other than Florida’s Cape Canaveral.   More
(Source: Mobile Magazine - Sep 14)

VA SHORE: ROCKET TO SPACE STATION SET TO LAUNCH TUESDAY FROM WALLOPS - ttention is turning to the scheduled Sept. 17 launch from Wallops Island of an Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket carrying the Cygnus spacecraft on a mission to the the International Space Station. It will be the first mission to lift off from Virginia for the International Space Station—and the second major mission launched in less than two weeks from NASA Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The LADEE spacecraft is on its way to the moon after successfully lifting off from the spaceport aboard a Minotaur V rocket on Sept. 6.   More
(Source: Delmarva Now - Sep 12)

IRIDIUM UNVEILS NEW STAND-ALONE SATELLITES FOR HOSTED PAYLOADS - Iridium Communications on Monday unveiled a new satellite concept aimed at helping governments and others put sensors and other payloads into space at half the cost of current programs. The satellite operator said there was so much demand to put sensors on its next-generation communications Iridium NEXT satellites it will begin launching in 2015, that it decided to offer a new service to host third-party payloads on stand-alone satellites that would still be able to use the ground control and communications systems of the Iridium NEXT network.   More
(Source: Reuters - Sep 10)

OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW: ISS PREPARES FOR CREW EXCHANGE - NASA has reported that the International Space Station (ISS) is about to undergo a crew exchange as three Expedition 36 crew members prepare to return to Earth. Commander Pavel Vinogradov and Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy and Alexander Misurkin will be boarding inside a Soyuz TMA-08M Tuesday night. Vinogradov will be handing over control of the station to Flight Engineer Fyodor Yurchikhin on Monday during a traditional Change of Command Ceremony.    More
(Source: Red Orbit - Sep 10)

NASA ROCKET LIFTS OFF FROM WALLOPS ISLAND, VA., FACILITY ON WAY TO MOON ORBIT - A spacecraft was launched late Friday night from Virginia to the moon, a first in the history of space exploration for the state. The launch from Wallops Island occurred on schedule around 11.27 p.m. and was expected to be visible by millions of people up and down the East Coast. Officials from NASA said they thought it would be able to be viewed in the Washington metropolitan area, as it made a bright arc across the southeastern sky.   More
(Source: The Washington Post - Sep 7)

LONG MARCH 4C LAUNCHES THREE YAOGAN WEIXING-17 SATELLITES - nother super-secretive launch took place on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center as China orbited three satellites under the Yaogan Weixing-17 mission. Launch took place at 19:16 UTC from the 603 launch pad of the LC43 launch complex using a Long March-4C (Chang Zheng-4C) launch vehicle. This is the Yaogan Weixing-17 mission composed of three satellites. Chinese media refer the new satellite as a new remote sensing bird that will be used for scientific experiments, land survey, crop yield assessment, and disaster monitoring.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Sep 3)

RUSSIA PUTS ISRAELI SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - ussia has sent an Israeli communications satellite into orbit, the federal space agency Roscosmos said Sunday. A Zenit-2SB rocket carrying the satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 00:05 Moscow time Sunday (2005 GMT Saturday), according to Roscosmos. At 6:50 a.m. Moscow time (0250 GMT), the Amos-4 satellite successfully separated from the DM-SLB upper stage, a spokesperson with the space agency told reporters.   More
(Source: Xinhua - Sep 2)

ORBITAL LAUNCH SET FOR SEPT. 17 - Orbital Sciences and NASA have announced a new launch date for a demonstration mission to the International Space Station to be launched from Wallops Island in September. The launch is now set for Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 11:16 a.m., with a 15-minute launch window. The previous date announced was Sept. 14, with a launch window from Sept. 14-19.   More
(Source: Delmarva Now - Aug 31)

EUROPE’S ATV-4 SPACECRAFT TO RAISE SPACE STATION’S ORBIT - Specialists of Russia’s mission control center will adjust the International Space Station (ISS) orbit on Saturday by switching on thrusters of a European spacecraft. “A maneuver to adjust the ISS orbit is scheduled for August 31, it is planned to be carried out by thrusters of Europe’s ATV-4 “Albert Einstein” resupply spacecraft docked with the station,” a mission control spokesman said.   More
(Source: RIA Novosti - Aug 31)

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