The AP reports that South Korea “successfully launched its first homegrown space rocket on Tuesday, officials said, a triumph that boosted the country’s growing space ambitions but also proved it has key technologies to build a space-based surveillance system and bigger missiles amid animosities with rival North Korea.” The Nuri rocket “succeeded in releasing and placing its functioning ‘performance verification’ satellite at an altitude of 700 kilometers (435 miles) after its liftoff from South Korea’s space launch center at 4 p.m.” Full Story (AP)
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Launch of South Korea’s Nuri rocket, June 21, 2022
(Korea Now via YouTube)
SPACE reports that Russia launched the Progress 81 freighter “atop a Russian-built Soyuz rocket at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was 2:32 p.m. in the afternoon.” Progress 81 “is carrying about three tons of food, propellant and equipment up to the International Space Station (ISS)” where it will dock at 9:02 a.m. EDT. NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said, “It was a perfect launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.” Full Story (SPACE)
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Progress 81 Cargo Ship Launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome – June 3, 2022 (NASA via YouTube)
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched its Transporter-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 at 2:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The Transporter-5 mission was carried out by a Falcon 9 rocket carrying around 59 satellite payloads. SpaceX’s launch “came just one minute before Boeing undocked its high-profile Starliner capsule mission from the International Space Station.” Full Story (Florida Today)
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Launch of the Transporter-5 Mission (SpaceX via YouTube)
CNBC reported that the space industry “should reach $1 trillion in annual revenue by 2040, with launch costs dropping 95%, Citigroup analysts said in an extensive report published this month.” Citi said, “Revenue from manufacturing, launch services and ground equipment will make up the majority of the revenue growth in the satellite sector. However, the fastest growth rate is expected to come from new space applications and industries, with revenue forecast to rise from zero to $101 billion over the period.” Full Story (CNBC)
May 21, 2022 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“Congratulations to the NASA and Boeing team on the successful Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) mission, including the beautiful launch of the Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. We applaud their combined efforts to deliver this uncrewed cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
The OFT-2 mission is a major step on the path to further realize the potential of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to safely and reliably fly humans to and from low Earth orbit (LEO). We are encouraged to see human spaceflight capability to the ISS from the United States increase, as the aerospace industry continues opening access to space for more people as part of building the space economy.
New spacecraft programs like Starliner rely on a highly qualified team of partners. We recognize the countless AIAA members involved in all aspects of the supply chain in this endeavor, including those who have helped design, build, and test this new spacecraft. We salute everyone involved for their important contributions to this much needed new capability.”
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Boeing Starliner Launches to the International Space Station on Atlas V (Boeing via YouTube)
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cellAbout AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Space.com reports Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft successfully launched Thursday at 6:54 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station “kicking off the crucial Orbital Flight Test (OFT-2).” Fifteen minutes after launch, Starliner separated from the ULA Atlas V’s upper stage, and “16 minutes later, the capsule aced its 45-second-long orbital insertion burn.” OFT-2, an uncrewed mission to the ISS, is designed to demonstrate Starliner’s readiness to carry astronauts on behalf of NASA. Full Story (Space.com)
Space.com reports a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center carrying 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit and then returned “to Earth for a stunning landing at sea early Wednesday (May 18).” Liftoff was at 6:59 a.m. EDT marking “SpaceX’s third Starlink mission in five days following missions on May 13 and May 14.” Full Story (Space.com)
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Starlink Mission: On Wednesday, 18 May, at 6:59 a.m. ET, SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SPACE reports, “Blue Origin’s next set of spaceflyers includes a prior customer and the first Mexican-born woman to visit the final frontier.” The flight will depart from “Blue Origin’s Launch Site One near Van Horn, Texas, on Friday morning (May 20),” and its “New Shepard vehicle will carry six people on a brief trip to suborbital space.” These six individuals include: Evan Dick, who “previously flew to space on board the NS-19 mission of Dec. 11, 2021”; Katya Echazarreta, who “was sponsored by the nonprofit Space for Humanity” and “will become the first Mexican-born woman to visit space”; Hamish Harding, “a business jet pilot and chair of the business jet brokerage company Action Aviation”; Victor Correa Hespanha, “sponsored by the Crypto Space Agency”; Jaison Robinson, “a finalist on the TV show ‘Survivor: Samoa’ in 2009”; and Victor Vescovo, “a co-founder of the private equity investment firm Insight Equity and a retired U.S. Navy reservist and intelligence officer.” Full Story (SPACE)
Space.com reports SpaceX successfully launched the NASA SpaceX Crew-4 mission early Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti are on their way to the ISS, following launch at 3:52 a.m. EDT. The astronauts are expected to arrive at “the space station for a docking at 8:15 p.m. EDT (0015 GMT on April 28).” Full Story (Space.com)
Spaceflight Now reports SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday at 1:51 p.m. EDT carrying 53 Starlink satellites into orbit thus “growing the company’s commercial internet network [as] ground teams seek to increase the already-blistering pace of Falcon 9 rocket missions.” Launch, initially scheduled to take place at 11:14 a.m.,
was delayed “due to high winds at the Florida spaceport.” The mission, named Starlink 4-14, marked “SpaceX’s 15th Falcon 9 launch of the year, and the 149th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket since the workhorse launcher debuted on June 4, 2010.” After the launch, the rocket made a successful landing on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Full Story (Spaceflight Now) More Info (WFTV9)
