ENVISAT: DEAD SATELLITE MAY POSE LIABILITY RISK TO ESA, SPACE LAWYER SAYS - The European Space Agency (ESA) faces the uncomfortable choice of either actively removing its dead Envisat satellite from low Earth orbit or risk being held liable if Envisat damages another satellite, a member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) said. Because it elected to continue operating Envisat until it had too little fuel to be powered to a lower orbit, as international guidelines prescribe, ESA could be held liable for negligence, or even gross negligence, if Envisat or pieces of it damage an active satellite in the 100-plus years Envisat will remain in orbit, according to the IISL analysis. More (Source: The Huffington Post - Oct 11)
SPACEX DRAGON CAPSULE DOCKS AT ISS, BEARING 1,000 POUNDS OF CARGO - A privately built robotic space capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Oct. 10) to make the first-ever commercial cargo delivery to the orbiting lab under a billion-dollar deal with NASA. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft was captured by station astronauts using a robotic arm after an apparently flawless approach by the cargo-laden space capsule, which was built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX. It is the first of 12 resupply flights SpaceX will fly for NASA under a $1.6 billion deal. More (Source: The Huffington Post - Oct 10)
ORBCOMM SATELLITE IN WRONG ORBIT AFTER FALCON 9 LAUNCH - Orbcomm Inc., owner of a data communications satellite launched by SpaceX on Sunday, is evaluating whether it can recover the spacecraft after it was deployed in a lower-than-planned orbit by a Falcon 9 rocket. The 363-pound Orbcomm satellite, built by Sierra Nevada Corp., is designed to provide two-way data communications services for customers in the heavy equipment, transportation, maritime, agriculture, oil and gas, energy, and government sectors. More (Source: Spaceflight Now - Oct 9)
SPACEX DRAGON'S LIFTOFF BEGINS THE NEW NORMAL FOR NASA - An unmanned private spacecraft lifted off on the first routine commercial delivery to the International Space Station on Sunday night, marking a major shift in how NASA sends supplies and gear to the orbiting lab. The gumdrop-shaped Dragon space capsule built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX rose from its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to begin a three-day voyage to the space station. More (Source: MSNBC - Oct 8)
PRIVATE DRAGON SPACECRAFT 'GO' TO LAUNCH SPACE STATION CARGO SUNDAY - A private Dragon space capsule is poised for a weekend launch to the International Space Station with the first big cargo shipment ever aboard an unmanned American spacecraft. The gumdrop-shaped Dragon spacecraft, built by the commercial spaceflight company SpaceX, will blast off on Sunday (Oct. 7) from a launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is set for 8:35 p.m. EDT (0035 Monday GMT), with a planned arrival at the station set for on Wednesday (Oct. 10). More (Source: Space.com - Oct 7)
JAPAN MINI-SATELLITE TO FLASH CODE FROM SPACE - A palm-sized Japanese satellite in orbit around Earth will flash a Morse code message that will be visible around the world from next month, the mission commander said Friday. Researchers hope the satellite, measuring 10 centimetres (four inches) cubed and launched from the International Space Station on Friday, will become the first orbiter to transmit an LED message across the night sky. More (Source: Phys.Org - Oct 6)
ASTRONAUTS LAUNCH TECHEDSAT FROM INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A small cube-like satellite launched from the International Space Station on Thursday and it has NASA engineers, student interns and amateur radio enthusiasts around the world listening. TechEdSat was released from the new Japanese Small Satellite Orbital Deployer aboard the space station at 11:44 am EDT. The small satellite measures only 4 inches to a side and carries a ham radio transmitter. Developed by a group of student interns from San Jose State University (SJSU) More (Source: RedOrbit - Oct 6)
SPACE STATION DEPLOYS FIVE CUBESATS - Five research CubeSats – all with Amateur Radio communication systems – were successfully deployed from the International Space Station beginning around 1430 UTC today. The satellites were launched from the Kibo station module using a specially equipped robotic arm. More (Source: ARRL - Oct 6)
AIR FORCE LAUNCHES LATEST GPS SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - The Air Force has launched a satellite from Cape Canaveral to be part of the existing navigation system for the military. The latest Global Positioning System satellite, GPS IIF-3, rocketed into space Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, which is separate from NASA's space center on the Florida coast. The satellite was carried up by an unmanned Delta 4 rocket in the medium-plus configuration, wihcih includes two solid-rocket boosters. More (Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49290825/ns/technology_and_science-space/ - Oct 5)
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