RETIRED MILITARY WEATHER SATELLITE BREAKS UP - A defunct military weather satellite has broken up in orbit and created more than 50 pieces of debris, the latest in a series of similar incidents involving that line of spacecraft. The U.S. Space Force reported Dec. 19 that it had identified a “low-velocity fragmentation event” involving the DMSP-5D2 F14 spacecraft. The event took place at 9:10 p.m. Eastern Dec. 18 at an altitude of 840 kilometers, but the announcement did not disclose how much debris had been created by the event.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 21)

ROCKET LAB SCRUBS STRIX RADAR SATELLITE LAUNCH FOR SYNSPECTIVE OVER 'SENSOR DATA' - The spaceflight company Rocket Lab called off a planned launch of half a dozen commercial satellites due to concerns over sensor readings on Friday (Dec. 20). Rocket Lab scrubbed what was to be its 16th Electron rocket flight of 2024 less than 20 minutes before planned liftoff at 10:03 a.m. EST (1503 GMT) from the company's primary launch site on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Fueling of the rocket had already begun at the time of the scrub.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 21)

ABORT! SPACEX CALLS OFF LAUNCH OF 'MICROGEO' SATELLITES AT LAST SECOND - SpaceX's plans to launch four small communications satellites to a high Earth orbit were called off as the countdown reached T-0 seconds on Saturday (Dec. 1). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying four "MicroGEO" satellites built by San Francisco company Astranis had been scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at midnight EST (0500 GMT). An unspecified issue forced an abort just as the Falcon's Merlin engines were igniting.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 21)

CHINA NEARS RECORD LAUNCH YEAR WITH CERES-1 AND SAR SATELLITE MISSIONS - Chinese launch startup Galactic Energy conducted its fourth sea launch early Thursday as China continued its recent high launch cadence. The Ceres-1 solid rocket lifted off at 5:18 a.m. Eastern (1018 UTC) Dec. 19 from a converted mobile sea platform off the coast of Shandong province, near Rizhao city. The launch was streamed live from the coast.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 20)

WATCH RUSSIAN COSMONAUTS INSTALL NEW X-RAY DETECTOR DURING ISS SPACEWALK TODAY - Two Russian cosmonauts will venture out into the vacuum of space today, and you can watch it live. Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Russia's space agency Roscosmos will begin a spacewalk, or extra-vehicular activity (EVA), outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (Dec. 19) beginning at 10:10 ET (1310 GMT). The spacewalk is expected to last six-and-a-half hours as the two Expedition 72 crewmates install a new instrument that will measure cosmic X-ray sources as well as new electrical equipment, according to NASA.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 20)

SPACEX INKS DEAL TO LAUNCH 2 MORE ASTRONAUT MISSIONS TO THE ISS - SpaceX has signed a deal to fly two more private astronaut missions to the International Space Station (ISS) using its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. The flights were booked by California company Vast Space, which is developing a private space station called Haven-1 that could reach orbit as soon as next year, also atop a Falcon 9.   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 20)

CHINESE ASTRONAUTS CONDUCT RECORD-BREAKING 9-HOUR SPACEWALK OUTSIDE TIANGONG SPACE STATION - Two Chinese astronauts just secured a spot in spaceflight history. Cai Xuzhe and Song Lingdong, part of China's three-person Shenzhou 19 mission, spent more than nine hours spacewalking outside the Tiangong space station from late Monday night (Dec. 16) through Tuesday morning (Dec. 17), according to officials with China's Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO).   More
(Source: Space.com - Dec 19)

NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR ROSCOSMOS SPACEWALK 63 OUTSIDE SPACE STATION - NASA will provide live coverage as two Roscosmos cosmonauts conduct a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station on Thursday, Dec. 19. NASA’s live coverage begins at 9:45 a.m. EST, Thursday on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:10 a.m. and last about six and a half hours.   More
(Source: NASA - Dec 19)

AXIOM SPACE REVISES SPACE STATION ASSEMBLY PLANS - Axiom Space is revising the assembly sequence for its commercial space station, a move it says will allow it to get to a free-flying station sooner while addressing NASA’s needs to prepare for the deorbiting of the International Space Station. The company announced Dec. 18 a revised sequence of modules it will deploy through the end of the decade to assemble its Axiom Station, starting with a Payload Power Thermal Module (PPTM) that will be installed on the ISS.   More
(Source: SpaceNews - Dec 19)

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