RUSSIAN CARGO SHIP DOCKS WITH SPACE STATION - An unmanned Russian cargo ship docked with the International Space Station to deliver three tons of supplies to the outpost's crew, including a tiny satellite and birthday gifts for the orbiting lab's commander. The automated Progress 41 space freighter, which blasted off from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday, hooked up with the International Space Station at 9:39 p.m. ET Saturday (5:39 a.m. Sunday Moscow time). There's a wealth of goodies packed aboard the Progress 41 spacecraft for the space station's six-person crew. The station is currently home to three Russians, two Americans and one Italian astronaut.    More
(Source: MSnBC - Jan 30)

ARISSAT-1 BLASTS OFF - At 0132 UTC January 28, a Soyuz-U rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan carrying the Russian Progress M-09M cargo vehicle to orbit for a rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS). In addition to delivering fuel, oxygen, food and other supplies, the Progress contains the new AMSAT ARISSat-1 Amateur Radio satellite. Progress is scheduled to dock with the space station on January 30 at 0240 UTC. ARISSat-1 will be manually jettisoned from the ISS during a spacewalk on February 16. The satellites features a new software defined transponder that will provide simultaneous 2-meter FM, CW, BPSK transmissions, as well as a Mode U/V (70 cm uplink, 2 meter downlink) transponder.    More
(Source: ARRL - Jan 28)

RUSSIA LAUNCHES ANOTHER CARGO SHIP TO SPACE STATION - With Japan's cargo freighter safely arriving at the International Space Station early Thursday, Russia has launched its next resupply ship loaded with more provisions and even a tiny amateur radio satellite that spacewalkers will deploy from the orbiting outpost. Liftoff of the Soyuz booster carrying the Progress vessel from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan occurred Thursday night at 8:31 p.m. EST (0131 GMT), beginning Russia's 41st such cargo delivery mission to the space station.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Jan 28)

INDIA PLANNED AS LAUNCH SITE FOR ESTONIA'S FIRST SATELLITE - The satellite developed by a group of Tartu and Tallinn students is to test a solar sail invented by Helsinki University professor Pekka Janhunen, ETV reported. Mart Noorma, a teacher at the University of Tartu, says the best offer for launching the satellite has come from India. The launching would cost 60,000 euros, said Noorma.    More
(Source: ERR News - Jan 25)

DELTA 4-HEAVY'S HUSH-HUSH PAYLOAD FOUND AND IDENTIFIED - The clandestine cargo carried into polar orbit Thursday aboard the first California-launched Delta 4-Heavy rocket was a crucial replacement satellite for the nation's surveillance and security network, amateur sky-watchers say. The sophisticated imaging bird follows a long line of Keyhole-type spacecraft that provide ultra-high resolution imagery for the U.S. intelligence community, according to hobbyists who track orbiting satellites with remarkable precision.    More
(Source: Space Flight Now - Jan 25)

NASA WILL LAUNCH SATELLITE GLORY FROM THE BASE OF VANDENBERG AIR FORCE - NASA will send the satellite “Glory” into space next month with a mission to gather information to help scientists understand how the Sun and tiny particles called aerosols influence Earth’s climate. Another of its tasks will be to gather data to consider what measures should be taken “to address key uncertainties about climate change,” NASA said in a statement.   More
(Source: Coffetoday - Jan 23)

SUCCESS IN SPACE: NASA'S TINY SOLAR SAIL GETS SECOND WIND - Talk about a comeback story: A tiny NASA satellite once teetering on failure has successfully unfurled its solar sail while orbiting the Earth, the space agency announced Friday. The NanoSail-D satellite — which ejected from its mothership just this week, more than a month late — deployed its sail late Thursday and is operating as planned. The unfurling marks the first time a NASA craft has ever opened a solar sail in low-Earth orbit, according to agency officials.    More
(Source: MSNBC - Jan 23)

NASA GIVES GO-AHEAD FOR ADDITIONAL SHUTTLE FLIGHT - NASA doesn't know yet where it will get the money, but on Thursday the space agency officially added another space shuttle launch to its schedule — the final one for the fleet. The space agency set a target launch date of June 28 for the shuttle Atlantis and started preparations for the 135th and last shuttle flight. The four-member crew will take up supplies to the International Space Station, make one spacewalk, and return a faulty pump that has bedeviled engineers. Now three missions remain before NASA retires its shuttle fleet this year. The shuttle Discovery's last mission is slated for Feb. 24, and Endeavour's is set for April.    More
(Source: MSNBC - Jan 21)

VANDENBERG ROCKET: LARGEST AMERICAN ROCKET BLASTED OFF TODAY ON WEST COAST - The unmanned Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 1:10 p.m. PST (4:10 p.m. EST) carrying a secret satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. Making the Vandenberg rocket the largest rocket launch ever from the country's West Coast. The largest American rocket currently in use blasted off from the California coast today (Jan. 20) carrying a new U.S. spy satellite on a classified mission, making it the biggest rocket launch ever from the country's West Coast.    More
(Source: Christian Science Monitor - Jan 21)

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