Satellite News
Soyuz rocket launches with demo satellite for Russian internet constellation
A Russian Soyuz rocket launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT) Saturday with three Gonets data relay payloads and a demonstrator spacecraft for a proposed constellation of Russian broadband internet satellites.
OneWeb set to resume launches on Indian rocket
After the suspension of commercial launches on Russia’s Soyuz rocket earlier this year, OneWeb is set to resume deploying satellites for its global internet network Saturday with an Indian GSLV Mk.3 launcher, one of five OneWeb missions planned before mid-2023 to finish the company’s first-generation constellation.
Airbus Beluga Delivers Airbus Satellite to Kennedy Space Center
A special aircraft landed at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida this weekend: the Airbus BelugaST (A300-600ST). It delivered the Airbus-built HOTBIRD 13G satellite for Eutelsat. This happened a few hours after its twin, HOTBIRD 13F, was successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. First Eurostar Neo satellite launched
Panasonic Avionics to bring OneWeb LEO broadband to planes
Panasonic Avionics, one of the largest providers of satellite-enabled broadband to aircraft, said Oct. 18 it has reached a deal to sell low Earth orbit connectivity services from OneWeb in the second half of 2023.
Starlink taking preorders for high-speed private jet broadband service
SpaceX started accepting preorders Tuesday from high-flying private jet owners willing to pay a hefty price to receive high-speed Starlink services in the air.
Launcher News
Ariane 6 1st Flight Planned for 4th Quarter of 2023
Ariane 6, the new heavy-lift launch system being developed by the European Space Agency, will make its inaugural flight as soon as the fourth quarter of 2023. Briefing media gathered at ESA’s Paris Bertrand headquarters on 19 October, Director General Joseph Aschbacher said sufficient progress had been made over the past several months to anticipate a Q4 2023 first flight, pending the realization of three key milestones before April next year.
European Space Agency to launch two missions on SpaceX rockets
The European Space Agency announced Thursday it will use SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to launch two scientific missions because of delays to its own Ariane 6 rocket and the cancellation of flights on Russia’s Soyuz launchers.
United Launch Alliance’s Debut Vulcan Mission Slips to 2023 (Source: Reuters)
United Launch Alliance has pushed the debut launch of its new Vulcan rocket to early 2023 at the request of one of its customers, the company’s chief executive said, further delaying a benchmark mission crucial to the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture’s launch business. Vulcan, a roughly 200 foot-tall rocket in the final stages of development, will be the centerpiece to ULA’s launch business. It also will be a workhorse for U.S. Pentagon missions to space starting late next year as the rocket’s predecessor nears retirement over its use of Russian-made engines.
Exploration News
NASA’s Hubble Spots Twin Tails in New Image After DART Impact
Two tails of dust ejected from the Didymos-Dimorphos asteroid system are seen in new images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, documenting the lingering aftermath of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact. The DART spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, a small moonlet of Didymos, on Sept. 26 in a planetary defense test to change Dimorphos’ orbit by crashing into it. Current data show that DART shortened Dimorphos’ original 11 hour and 55 minute orbit around Didymos by about 32 minutes.
Artemis fleet, orders 3 more crew capsules
NASA is furthering its plans to set up a space station on the moon and send the first astronauts to Mars by ordering three more crew capsules for its Artemis mission. The mission’s primary contractor Lockheed Martin announced the plans for three additional Orion spacecraft on Thursday. The cost of the three capsules is about $1.99 billion. The new Orion crew capsules will be used for Artemis VI-VIII, which are expected to launch in the late 2020s to early 2030s.
World’s first space tourist plans new flight to Moon with SpaceX
Dennis Tito, an American entrepreneur who in 2001 became the first person to pay for their own space voyage, said Wednesday he plans to fly with his wife Akiko on a future SpaceX mission around the Moon.
NewSpace News
Beyond Orbital to supply the power electronics for Loft Orbital’s Longbow smallsat
Beyond Gravity has been selected to supply equipment for Loft Orbital’s Longbow spacecraft based on the Airbus Arrow platform — the physical equipment is referred to as the Power Control & Distribution Unit (PCDU). The PCDU provides mission critical power supply capabilities and on-orbit configurability for “The Hub” that carries all payloads of a Loft Orbital […]
Space Safety News
Report offers wide-ranging recommendations on space safety
A new report by The Aerospace Corporation calls for a more holistic approach to space safety, from avoiding collisions in orbit to cybersecurity.
Failure of Japan’s Epsilon rocket blamed on attitude control system
Engineers investigating the Oct. 12 launch failure of a Japanese Epsilon rocket have traced the problem to the attitude control system on the second stage, Japan’s space agency said Tuesday.
Science &Technology News
Nitrous Oxide, aka “Laughing gas”, Could be an Indication of Life in an Exoplanet
A team of astronomers have proposed to hunt for signs of life by looking for the signature of nitrous oxide in alien atmospheres. It’s laughing gas, but it’s no joke. Many astronomers worldwide are on the hunt for signs of life outside of the Earth
