Tag: Space Exploration

Australian company Gilmour Space gets country’s 1st orbital launch license

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Australia is poised to be the next country to take the giant leap into orbit. Aussie-based company Gilmour Space received the country’s first orbital launch license this week, as it prepares for the first test flight of its Eris rocket. A specific launch date is expected within the next few weeks, according to a Gilmour Space press release, with a liftoff from the company’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in northern Queensland. Gilmour Space opened its doors in 2015, and has since grown to more than 200 employees. Located on Queensland’s Gold…

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NASA still mum about SpaceX Crew-8 astronaut’s medical issue

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NASA is not yet ready to tell us why one of its astronauts was hospitalized shortly after returning to Earth last month. That astronaut was one of the four members of SpaceX‘s Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which ended with a splashdown off the coast of Florida on Oct. 25. Everything appeared to go well with the landing. Shortly thereafter, however, all four astronauts — NASA’s Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt and Jeanette Epps, and Alexander Grebenkin of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos — were taken to a Florida hospital for…

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Russia sends 53 satellites to orbit on record-breaking launch (video)

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Russia launched 53 small satellites into orbit on Monday (Nov. 4), a mix of Russian and international spacecraft. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage lifted off from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East at 6:18 p.m. EST on Monday (2318 GMT; or 2:18 a.m. on Nov. 5 local time). “The hosted payload consisting of 49 Russian satellites, a Russian-Chinese satellite, a Russian-Zimbabwean satellite and two Iranian small satellites was delivered into the designated orbits and separated from the Fregat booster that was launched by a…

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SpaceX launching 20 Starlink satellites from California early Nov. 9

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SpaceX will launch 20 Starlink internet satellites from California early Saturday morning (Nov. 9). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft — 13 of which have direct-to-cell capability — is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday, during a four-hour window that opens at 1:16 a.m. EST (0516 GMT; 10:16 p.m. Nov. 8 local time).  SpaceX will webcast the launch live via X, beginning about five minutes before liftoff. If all goes according to plan on Saturday morning, the Falcon 9’s first stage will come back…

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World’s 1st wooden satellite arrives at ISS for key orbital test

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This new spaceflight tech has a very retro feel. The world’s first wooden satellite, a tiny Japanese spacecraft called LignoSat, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) today (Nov. 5) aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. LignoSat measures just 4 inches (10 centimeters) on each side, but it could end up having a big impact on spaceflight and exploration down the road. “While some of you might think that wood in space seems a little counterintuitive, researchers hope this investigation demonstrates that a wooden satellite can be more sustainable and…

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Asteroid-mining company AstroForge gets 1st-ever FCC license for commercial deep-space mission

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Asteroid prospecting company AstroForge has been awarded the first-ever commercial license for operating and communicating with a spacecraft in deep space, ahead of its Odin mission that’s set to launch and rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid in early 2025. The license, granted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Oct. 18, pertains specifically to setting up a communication network with radio ground stations on Earth, to enable commands to be sent up to Odin and data to be transmitted back to Earth. In this case, deep space is defined…

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Watch 31st SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrive at the ISS today

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The space station will receive a new shipment of supplies this morning (Nov. 5), and you can watch the event live. A SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft laden with 6,000 pounds (2,700 kilograms) of food, equipment and experiments will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) today around 10:15 a.m. EST (1415 GMT), if all goes according to plan. Coverage will run live on NASA+ and, if possible, Space.com will simulcast the events here. NASA’s broadcast will begin at 8:45 a.m. EST (1245 GMT). SpaceX launched the robotic Dragon aboard a…

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Astronomers urge FCC to halt satellite megaconstellation launches

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Over 100 astronomers from leading U.S. universities have signed an open letter calling for an assessment of potential impacts of satellite megaconstellations on Earth’s environment. The researchers urge the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which approves satellite deployments in the U.S., to halt megaconstellation launches and conduct a thorough assessment of their possible environmental impacts before awarding further licenses. U.S. government agencies are bound by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), which requires them to consider the environmental impacts of their decisions. A 1986 categorical exclusion, however, means that satellites…

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Watch Rocket Lab launch mystery mission early on Nov. 5

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Rocket Lab plans to launch a hush-hush mission early Tuesday morning (Nov. 5), and you can watch the action live. The mission, for a “confidential commercial customer,” is set to lift off atop an Electron vehicle from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand site on Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. EST (0930 GMT). Rocket Lab will webcast the launch live, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff. Space.com will carry the feed if Rocket Lab makes it available. Tuesday’s mission, which Rocket Lab calls “‘Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,” will send one commercial satellite…

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Japan launches military communications satellite on 4th flight of H3 rocket

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Japan’s new H3 rocket flew for the fourth time ever on Monday morning (Nov. 4). The H3 launched Kirameki 3, a military communications satellite also known as DSN-3, from Tanegashima Space Center on Monday at 1:48 a.m. EST (0548 GMT; 3:48 p.m. local Japan time). The flight was apparently a success: Kirameki 3 deployed at about 29 minutes after liftoff as planned, eliciting cheers and handshakes in mission control, as seen in the launch webcast by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The two-stage H3 is Japan’s new workhorse medium-lift…

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