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India launches a new ocean monitoring satellite on Saturday morning. The EOS-06 spacecraft was delivered into a low Earth orbit. The mission, PSLV C54, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 11:56 local time (06:26 UTC)
Commercial Archives
SpaceX has launched its 61st and final mission of 2022. The EROS-C3 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East. This launch deployed the third NG-series satellite in Israel’s Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) network.
International Archives
China has completed its most successful spaceflight year yet. Remote sensing satellites were a common sight on Chinese rockets in 2022. It was also a year of commercial launches and significant expansions of the Tiangong Space Station. The Gaofen launch especially is an exemplar of their past year in spaceflight.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
SpaceX Falcon 9 takes to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. First of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year. Dragon spacecraft will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the orbiting laboratory.
News – Spaceflight101
Russia's Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. Europe's Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday with a Russian Rockot booster.
Re-Entry: Long March 11 Rocket Body – Spaceflight101
The CZ-11 fourth stage used leftover propellant for a partial de-orbit maneuver, lowering its perigee to 120 Kilometers to significantly accelerate its orbital decay. It is reportedly built around a YF-50 main engine and in a nominal mission conducts the orbital circularization after the three CZ-11 stages finish their job.
EMIT
EMIT was developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched on July 14, 2022. The instrument observes Earth from outside the International Space Station. EMIT data will be delivered to the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC) for use by other researchers and the public.
Faces of Leadership: The Directors of JPL
JPL Director, 2001-2016 Charles Elachi was born in Lebanon and received a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Grenoble, France. He received a master's degree (1969) and doctorate (1971) in electrical sciences from Caltech. He also earned a master's in business administration (1978) from USC and a master's in geology (1983) from UCLA.
Documentary Series: JPL and the Space Age
JPL and the Space Age uses rare archival footage and interviews with many of JPL’s pioneering engineers and scientists. Each episode of JPL and the Space age was written, produced and directed by JPL Fellow and national Emmy Award-winning documentarian Blaine Baggett.
Caltech/JPL Privacy Policies and Important Notices
This notice provides Caltech/JPL's policy regarding the nature, purpose, use and sharing of any information collected via Web sites in the jpl.nasa.gov domain. We will protect your information consistent with the principles of the Privacy Act, the e-Government act of 2002, the Federal Records Act and, as applicable, the Freedom of Information Act.
NASA Launches International Mission to Survey Earth’s Water
SWOT will provide data on more than 95% of the world’s lakes larger than 15 acres (62,500 square meters) and rivers wider than 330 feet (100 meters) across. SWOT measurements will also help researchers, policymakers, and resource managers better assess and plan for things, including floods and droughts.
Watch the Latest Water Satellite Unfold Itself in Space
The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite launched into Earth orbit on Friday, Dec. 16. The solar arrays fully deployed shortly after launch, taking about 10 minutes. The mission monitors and controls the satellite using telemetry data, but it also equipped spacecraft with four customized commercial cameras.
Construction Begins on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. Now the mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase. The mission supports the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)