NEXT GALILEO SATELLITES TO LAUNCH AFTER THE SUMMER - The European Commission has announced the launch date of the next pair of ESA-procured Galileo satellites. These will be launched together on a Soyuz from French Guiana on 28 September, joining the two satellites already in orbit. Antonio Tajani, Vice President of the European Commission, responsible for industry and entrepreneurship, announced the launch on 2 May in Brussels, together with Jean Yves Le Gall, Chairman and CEO of Arianespace, in the presence of industrial leaders involved in the program, and in agreement with ESA’s Director of the Galileo Program and Navigation-related Activities Didier Faivre.    More
(Source: RedOrbit - May 5)

SPACEX STATION LAUNCH SET FOR MAY 19 - SpaceX has suggested May 19 as the new date for its potentially history-making Falcon 9 rocket launch to the International Space Station, with May 22 as a backup date. The schedule shift provides more time for NASA to review changes in the California-based company's flight software, and also avoids a potential conflict with the planned May 14 launch of three new space station crew members from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.    More
(Source: MSNBC - May 5)

SPACEX'S HISTORIC SPACE STATION MISSION DELAYED AGAIN - The private spaceflight company SpaceX will likely postpone the planned launch of its Dragon capsule to the International Space Station next week, officials announced May 2. SpaceX was targeting the launch for Monday, May 7, but now will likely shift to a later date, possibly May 10. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft is due to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.    More
(Source: Fox News - May 5)

LONG MARCH LAUNCHER BOOSTS TWIN SATELLITES INTO ORBIT - Two satellites for China's Beidou navigation system launched aboard a Long March 3B rocket Sunday, further expanding the space-based positioning network as China eyes global service by 2020. The Beidou constellation, also known as Compass, is China's counterpart to the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System, which provides navigation services to military vehicles, precision munitions, civil aviation, personal cars, boats, and search-and-rescue forces.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - May 2)

SPACEX'S 1ST PRIVATE CAPSULE LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION: HOW IT WILL WORK - On May 7, if all goes well, the private spaceflight company SpaceX will launch the first commercial spaceship ever to visit the International Space Station. But the mission will be like no other U.S. flight to the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule is due to deliver food, supplies and science experiments to the outpost as a test mission for NASA.    More
(Source: Space.com - May 2)

INDIA TO FERRY HEAVIEST FOREIGN SATELLITE IN AUGUST - India will ferry two foreign satellites - French and Japanese - on board its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C21) rocket in August this year for a price, said a senior official. "The next rocket launch will be in August. We will be sending our PSLV rocket with French satellite SPOT 6 (800 kg) and a small Japanese satellite weighing around 15 kg. Though the rocket is called PSLV-C21 it will go before PSLV-C20," P.S. Veeraraghavan, director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), told IANS.    More
(Source: Zee News - Apr 29)

STRIFE OVER ROCKET DROP ZONES DELAYS METOP SATELLITE LAUNCH - Launch of Europe's second MetOp weather observatory has been delayed, potentially until late July, by a squabble between Russia and Kazakhstan over drop zones for the lower stages of the satellite's Soyuz rocket, the European Space Agency announced Friday. The mission was preparing to lift off May 23 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A Soyuz 2-1a rocket and Fregat upper stage will launch the MetOp B meteorological satellite into a near-polar orbit.    More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Apr 29)

SPACE STATION TRIO RETURNS SAFELY TO EARTH ABOARD RUSSIAN CRAFT - A Russian space capsule touched down on the steppes of Kazakhstan in Central Asia Friday, safely returning a joint U.S.-Russian crew to Earth after months aboard the International Space Station. The Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft landed at 7:45 a.m. ET, less than four hours after undocking from the space station. Riding home aboard the space capsule were NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin, who were reintroduced to the strong tug of Earth's gravity after spending 165 days, or nearly five and a half months, in orbit.    More
(Source: MSNBC - Apr 28)

SPACE STATION CREW TO RETURN TO EARTH FRIDAY - Three astronauts are set to leave the International Space Station early Friday morning (April 27) to return home after living in space for nearly half a year. NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin are slated to undock from the space station at 4:18 a.m. EDT (0818 GMT) Friday. They are expected to wrap up a 5 1/2-month space mission with a ride back to Earth aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, which is due to touch down in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 GMT).   More
(Source: Space.com - Apr 27)

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