China looks to build space partnerships with Gulf nations
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-30 13:44
China is aiming to grow cooperation with emerging space nations including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Space was named as one of a number of priority areas for the next three to five years. China has spoken frequently of its openness to training astronauts from other countries. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also already established initial space cooperation with China.
SpaceX completes record year with Israeli imaging satellite launch
Original Publication Date: 2022-12-30 13:16
The Falcon 9 lifted off at 2:38 a.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket's first stage landed back at the launch site eight minutes after liftoff. The launch of EROS C3 completed the most active year to date for SpaceX.
NASASpaceFlight.com
India launches a new ocean monitoring satellite on Saturday morning. The PSLV rocket carried the EOS-06 spacecraft 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, this one aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The EROS-C3 mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. This launch deployed the third NG-series satellite in Israel’s Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) network.
International Archives
With launch numbers 63 and 64 just before the end of this year, China finishes its most successful spaceflight year yet. Remote sensing satellites were a common sight on Chinese rockets in 2022, but it was also a year of commercial launches and significant expansions of the Tiangong Space Station.
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. The flight-proven Dragon spacecraft will deliver science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware to the International Space Station. This is the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
News – Spaceflight101
Russia's Rockot booster is set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. The rocket will carry the multi-function Sentinel-3B satellite into orbit. The launch is scheduled to take place on Wednesday.
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.
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 to record the action.
Construction Begins on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. The mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase. The mission supports the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO)
Moon Water Imager Integrated With NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer
Lunar Trailblazer, NASA’s mission to understand lunar water and the Moon’s water cycle, is one step closer to launching next year. Earlier this month, the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California delivered a key science instrument to Lockheed Martin Space in Colorado. The instrument, called the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper, is one of two on Lunar Trailblazer.
NASA Explores a Winter Wonderland on Mars
The surface of Mars is covered in snow, ice, and frost in winter. Some of the coldest of these occur at the planet's poles, where it gets as low as minus 190 degrees Fahrenheit. No region of Mars gets more than a few feet of snow, most of which falls over extremely flat areas.
Juno Spacecraft Recovering Memory After 47th Flyby of Jupiter
NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed its 47th close pass of Jupiter on Dec. 14. Afterward, as the solar-powered orbiter was sending its science data to mission controllers from its onboard computer, the downlink was disrupted. The issue was most likely caused by a radiation spike as Juno flew through a radiation-intensive portion of Jupiter’s magnetosphere.
NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science
NASA's InSight mission has ended after more than four years of collecting unique science on Mars. Mission controllers at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California were unable to contact the lander after two consecutive attempts. The last time InSight communicated with Earth was Dec. 15.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
A titanium tube containing a rock sample is resting on the Red Planet’s surface. Over the next two months, the rover will deposit a total of 10 tubes at the location, called “Three Forks. The depot marks a historic early step in the Mars Sample Return campaign.