SOYUZ MS-06 RETURNS THREE ISS CREW MEMBERS TO EARTH - Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos have returned from the International Space Station (ISS) in their Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft. The trio landed on the steppes of Kazakhstan around 02:31 UTC.During their 168 days in space, they were part of the first expedition that began a long-term increase in the crew size on the U.S. segment from three people to four, enabling NASA to double the time dedicated to research surpassing 100 hours of research in one week. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Mar 1)

SECOND OF NOAAS HIGH-DEFINITION WEATHER SATELLITES READY FOR LAUNCH - The second satellite in a quartet of new NOAA weather observatories is awaiting liftoff Thursday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, heading for a position 22,000 miles from Earth to scan the western United States and Pacific Ocean for typhoons, wildfires and fog.The GOES-S weather satellite, to be renamed GOES-17 once in orbit, is bolted on top of a 197-foot-tall (60-meter) Atlas 5 rocket set for launch from Cape Canaveral at 5:02 p.m. EST (2202 GMT) Thursday.The launch window extends for two hours, and the official weather outlook calls for an 80 percent probability of favorable conditions. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 1)

NEW SATELLITE WILL SHIFT SHAPE WHILE IN SPACE - While the U.S. and Russia often steal the scene when it comes to wondrous space missions, in Europe the U.K is launching a new satellite that is sure to surprise its international partners. The Eutelsat Quantum satellite, built by the firm Airbus, will be the first commercial satellite equipped to shapeshift while in orbit. Operators will be able to reconfigure the satellite in real time, modifying elements such as its frequency and the areas of the earth it covers. Speaking with Phys.org, Yohann Leroy, deputy CEO of French satellite operator Eutelsat, said that what is really new is the level of flexibility that the satellite will provide [] thanks to a combination of technologies that we will put on board the satellite. More (Source: Futurism - Feb 28)

RUSSIA CLAIMS IT NOW HAS LASERS TO SHOOT SATELLITES - A defense source tells Russian media that military engineers have advanced work on the next big anti-satellite weapon.Russian defense companies have created a plane-mounted laser that can hit satellites at least according to an anonymous source quoted by Russian news agency Interfax. On Saturday, an Interfax report cited the source as saying that weapons maker Almaz-Antey has completed work on the anti-satellite complex, which includes the laser and associated ground control gear. More (Source: Defense One - Feb 28)

STATION HATCHES CLOSED, TRIO PREPARES TO HEAD HOME - At 2:58 p.m. EST, the hatch closed between the Soyuz MS-06 spacecraft and the International Space Station in preparation for undocking. Expedition 54 crewmates Mark Vande Hei and Joe Acaba of NASA and Commander Alexander Misurkin of Roscosmos are scheduled to undock their Soyuz at 6:08 p.m. NASA Television will air live coverage of undocking beginning at 5:45 p.m. More (Source: NASA - Feb 28)

EUTELSAT QUANTUM EUROPE'S NEW-GENERATION ULTRA-FLEXIBLE SATELLITE - This Monday, Eutelsat, Airbus and ESA presented the new Quantum satellite in Portsmouth, UK. A communications satellite of the latest generation, it is much more versatile than anything that came before. On July 9th 2015, less than three years ago, Eutelsat, Airbus, and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed an agreement for the construction of a telecommunications satellite called the "Quantum" that would be very different from all its predecessors. And now construction is finished: On Monday, the engineering partners presented the Quantum in the British coastal town of Portsmouth, with ESA astronaut Tim Peake in attendance. More (Source: Deutsche Welle - Feb 27)

JAPAN LAUNCHES H-2A ROCKET CARRYING RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITE - Japan on Tuesday launched an H-2A rocket carrying a government intelligence-gathering satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan.The optical reconnaissance satellite will be used for such purposes as monitoring developments at North Korean missile launch facilities, increasing the number of the nation's intelligence-gathering satellites to seven.The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. launched the H-2A F38 rocket from JAXA's launch site in Kagoshima Prefecture. More (Source: Kyodo News Plus - Feb 27)

SPACE HOTELS COULD BE REALITY BY 2021 - For many of us, space tourism seems pretty far off.But according to the Daily Mail, the ultra-wealthy could be making reservations in a space hotel as early as 2021.Once again, we are all super jealous of rich people and their extravagant travel plans. Billionaire hotel mogul, Robert Bigelow, founder of private space company Bigelow Aerospace, has announced the companys plans to send an inflatable hotel into orbit and create a new space station. More (Source: Travel Weekly - Feb 27)

JAPANESE SPY SATELLITE LAUNCH DELAYED BY POOR WEATHER FORECAST - A bad weather forecast has prompted Japanese space officials to delay the launch of an H-2A rocket with a high-resolution government-owned reconnaissance satellite by at least 48 hours until Monday night, U.S. time.Ground crews at the Tanegashima Space Center, Japans primary spaceport in the southwestern part of the country, will keep the H-2A rocket protected inside a vertical assembly building before rollout to the launch pad around a half-day before liftoff. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 25)

SPACEX POSTPONES FALCON 9 LAUNCH OVER PAYLOAD FAIRING CONCERNS - SpaceX officials have postponed the launch of a Spanish-owned telecommunications satellite from Cape Canaveral planned for this weekend to conduct additional testing on the Falcon 9s payload fairing pressurization system, the company announced Saturday.SpaceX did not set a new launch date, but the mission was expected to be pushed back multiple days from its previous Sunday launch target.Standing down from this weekends launch attempt to conduct additional testing on the fairings pressurization system, SpaceX said in a statement posted on Twitter. Once complete, and pending range availability, we will confirm a new targeted launch date. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 25)

ASTRONAUT: TRUMP'S PLAN FOR THE SPACE STATION A HUGE MISTAKE - Donald Trump's administration is floating a proposal to return to the moon -- and to shut down the International Space Station to help pay for it. The first part of this idea is good. The second is horrible. If enacted, it could well spell the end of NASA's human spaceflight for the foreseeable future.There is a wild card here, too: I refer to the commercial spaceflight efforts of companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. For the first time, visionary leaders of commercial companies are striving to build space infrastructure and exploration programs funded by commercial activities. Yes, there is the possibility of NASA partnering with them, but that is not the pressing question in my view now; the continuation of ISS is. More (Source: CNN - Feb 23)

LOCKHEED MARTIN COMPLETES ASSEMBLY ON ARABSAT'S NEWEST COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - A new, high-capacity communications satellite that will deliver TV, internet and mobile phone services to the Middle East, Africa and Europe is one step closer to launch. Lockheed Martin has completed assembly on the Arabsat-6A satellite, which was recently shipped to its Sunnyvale, California facility to begin a comprehensive series of tests to ensure the satellite is ready for operations in orbit."This new satellite will strengthen our existing fleet that offers millions of people mobile and landline communications service across the region," said Khalid Balkheyour, CEO of Arabsat. "We look forward to completing and launching this state-of-the-art new satellite to offer even greater internet, television and radio services to our customers." More (Source: Space Daily - Feb 23)

THE LOW-COST MINI SATELLITES BRINGING MOBILE TO THE WORLD - Large chunks of the planet are still of out of reach of mobile phone signals - that's about four billion people without access to digital communications. But this could change thanks to shrinking satellite sizes and costs.Lower-cost, space-based mobile phone services will soon be a reality thanks to one firm's fleet of nano-satellites that will bounce your voice or text signal from one spacecraft to the next and finally down to the person you're calling. More (Source: BBN News - Feb 23)

RECYCLED SPACEX ROCKET BOOSTS PAZ RADAR SATELLITE, FIRST STARLINK TESTBEDS INTO ORBIT - Launching with a Spanish radar observation craft and the first two experimental satellites for SpaceXs planned global broadband network, a Falcon 9 rocket fired away from Californias Central Coast shortly before sunrise Thursday after several days of delays.The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 launcher climbed into a clear sky from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, riding a column of orange exhaust from nine kerosene-burning Merlin main engines. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Feb 22)

ARMYS IMAGING SATELLITE UP AND RUNNING, BUT ITS FUTURE IS TBD - How valuable is it for troops in the field to have their own dedicated source of satellite imagery and other space-based intelligence? That is a question officials hope to answer in upcoming military exercises where commanders will have an opportunity to test the Armys newly deployed Kestrel Eye microsatellite.The Kestrel Eye Block IIM was sent into orbit in October from the International Space Station. It is now operational, said Dan Harkins, marketing manager at Adcole Maryland Aerospace, the satellite manufacturer. More (Source: SpaceNews - Feb 22)

SPACEX DELAYS FALCON 9 ROCKET LAUNCH DUE TO HIGH-ALTITUDE WINDS - SpaceX called off an attempted launch of its Falcon 9 rocket in California today (Feb. 21) due to strong high-altitude winds, according to the company's CEO, Elon Musk.The Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to lift off at 9:17 a.m. EST (1417 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4E at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. But about 10 minutes before liftoff, SpaceX announced it was standing down from the launch try. More (Source: Space.com - Feb 22)

GOODBYE, ISS. HELLO, PRIVATE SPACE STATIONS? - Have you heard? The ISS might go away in 2025. Yep, that ISSour big, honking space laboratory in the sky, one of the most successful international partnership stories of all time. Continually staffed since 2000. Off the Earth, for the Earth. One of the most expensive public projects ever, second possibly only to Americas Interstate Highway System. Unofficially, 2025 has been the stations retirement year since 2014, when NASA and its international partners agreed to keep it flying through 2024. But theres always been an assumption that end date could stretch to 2028, a point cited as when degrading hardware might start making life aboard the station a little dicey. More (Source: The Planetary Society - Feb 21)

GOES-S TO LAUNCH NEXT WEEK JOINING GOES-16 IN NOAAS NEW GENERATION OF WEATHER SATELLITES - Americas fleet of weather satellites will grow this March as NASA and NOAA launch GOES-S, the newest satellite that will help meteorologists to improve forecast accuracy.GOES-S will be the second member of a new generation of geostationary weather satellites, joining GOES-16, formerly known as GOES-R, which launched on Nov. 19, 2016The GOES-S satellite will join GOES-16 as NOAA continues to upgrade its satellite fleet, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said. More (Source: Accuweather - Feb 21)

SPACEX LAUNCH OF PAZ AND MICROSAT-2A AND -2B POSTPONED - The launch of the Spanish PAZ satellite from Vandenberg AFB by SpaceX has been postponed, with a reference to "technical reasons" by that country's Ministry of Defense as the reason for the new delay. PAZ, when on orbit, will perform both military and civil operations, such as troop movements, environmental observations and more. More (Source: SatNews - Feb 19)

NASA EVICTS GOLD-HELMETED ROBO-ASTRONAUT FROM SPACE - NASA is sending the ISS Robonaut a sinister-looking humanoid with legs like tentacles back to Earth for repairs.Robonaut 2 has officially been out of action since 2015 after a hardware upgrade went terribly wrong leaving the dexterous humanoid incapacitated.Following failed attempts to get the gold-helmeted action man back on its feet, it will now be sent home for a fix, with the intention of one day returning to the International Space Station. More (Source: RT - Feb 17)

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