
 
 COUNTDOWN FOR ISRO'S GSAT-6A COMMUNICATION SATELLITE BEGINS - The 27-hour countdown began on Wednesday for the launch of ISRO's GSLV-F08 mission carrying the GSAT-6A communication satellite from the space port of Sriharikota, about 110 km from here. The countdown for the mission to be launched on Thursday started at 13.56 hours following clearance from the Mission Readiness Review committee and Launch Authorisation Board, ISRO said. More 
 
 (Source: Times of India - Mar 29) 
 
 CHINA'S INTERNET IS DIVIDED OVER DOOMED SATELLITE TIANGONG-1 - After the country lost control of it, China's Tiangong-1 space station is expected by experts to crash out in a blaze of glory on April 1. China's internet is going wild over the satellite -- but for a different reason. While foreign publications have reported a likely loss of control as reason for Tiangong-1's impending self-destruction, local media is saying the space station is "retiring" after having accomplished its mission. Internet users have engaged in a debate on Weibo, China's Twitter-equivalent. Some are doubtful of the reason given by China, lambasting local publications for not reporting the "truth" -- that China has lost control of Tiangong-1. More 
 
 (Source: CNET - Mar 29) 
 
 MEET TESS, THE SATELLITE THAT WILL FIND THOUSANDS OF PLANETS - TESS the planet hunter is getting ready to launch next month. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is NASA's next mission in the search for exoplanets, or planets that are outside our solar system. And TESS will be on the lookout for planets that could support life, officials said Wednesday. Expected to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 16, TESS will pick up the search as the Kepler Space Telescope runs out of fuel. More 
 
 (Source: CNN - Mar 29) 
 
 WEBB TELESCOPE’S LAUNCH DELAYED UNTIL 2020 - Blaming a slew of technical snags and “avoidable errors,” NASA officials said Tuesday that the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, already years behind schedule, will be delayed to 2020, potentially pushing the mission’s development cost above an $8 billion cap mandated by Congress. Problems encountered in recent months with the observatory’s spacecraft bus, the section that will host the mission’s expandable telescope after liftoff, prompted a review of the schedule engineers need to prepare it for liftoff. More 
 
 (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 28) 
 
 ISS SSTV ACTIVE ON 145.800 MHZ FM IN APRIL - The International Space Station (ISS) amateur radio Slow Scan Television (SSTV) transmissions on 145.800 MHz FM are expected to be activate over several days in April. SSTV is also expected be active from April 11-14 world wide as part of Cosmonautics Day which takes place on April 12. Detailed times are still being worked into the schedule and will be published later. Images will be related to the Interkosmos project. More 
 
 (Source: AMSAT-UK - Mar 27) 
 
 CHINESE SPACE LAB TO FALL TO EARTH WITHIN DAYS IN 'FIERY DEMISE' - An out-of-control Chinese space lab is expected to fall to Earth within days, according to the latest estimate from the European Space Agency (ESA), which is monitoring its descent. The ESA's Space Debris Office said that the re-entry window for the Tiangong-1 space station was between March 30 and April 2 although it warned the estimate was "highly variable." The China Manned Space Engineering Office said it expects the lab to reenter the atmosphere between March 31 and April 4, burning up in the process. More 
 
 (Source: CNN - Mar 27) 
 
 JAPANESE COMPANY PLANS SATELLITE TO CREATE SHOOTING STARS ON DEMAND - A Japanese company aiming to create shooting stars in the upper atmosphere for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo has now unveiled its lofty commercial aspirations. Astro Live Experiences (ALE) is touting its plans to launch a satellite into low-Earth orbit, where it will release small metal fragments that will create fiery streaks in the sky as they burn up in the atmosphere for customers to watch from the ground. The “Sky Canvas” will involve launching two 150-pound satellites, starting in December. More 
 
 (Source: Laboratory Equipment - Mar 27) 
 
 CHINESE SPACE STATION SET TO PLUMMET UNCONTROLLED BACK TO EARTH - What goes up, must come down. Simply put, that's why there's so much interest in Tiangong-1, China's first space station, which was launched in 2011 and has been in decreasing orbit ever since. China admitted last year it no longer had control of the space station –– and now it’s getting close to plummeting back to Earth. Most of it will burn up on re-entry, but there’s always a chance some of it will survive and hit Earth. That said, most of our planet is covered by water so the odds are overwhelming it will splash down in an ocean someplace. More 
 
 (Source: ABC News - Mar 26) 
 
 TWO RADIO AMATEURS NOW ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - With the addition of three new crew members, the International Space Station (ISS) now has a full complement of six. Astronauts Ricky Arnold, KE5DAU, and Drew Feustel, and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev headed into space on March 21 aboard a Soyuz MS-08 vehicle, launched from Kazakhstan. The new ISS residents were welcomed on March 23 as part of the Expedition 55 crew by station commander Anton Shkaplerov and crew — Scott Tingle, KG5NZA, and Norishige Kanai. More 
 
 (Source: ARRL - Mar 25) 
 
 INDIA TO LAUNCH COMMUNICATION SATELLITE GSAT-6A ON MARCH 29 - In the field of space technology, India will close this fiscal with the launch of the GSAT-6A, a high power S-band communication satellite, on March 29, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Friday. According to the space agency, the satellite with a life span of around 10 years will be put into orbit by the Indian rocket, Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F08). The rocket is expected to blast off from the second launch pad at the Sriharikota rocket port in Andhra Pradesh at 4.56 p.m., on March 29. More 
 
 (Source: The Siasat Daily - Mar 25) 
 
 ‘MARCH FOR OUR LIVES’ CROWD IN DC VISIBLE FROM SPACE - A satellite camera captured photos showing the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in downtown Washington, D.C., on Saturday for the "March for our Lives" rally against gun violence. A Digital Globe satellite captured the photo over Washington, D.C., around 11 a.m. on Saturday. Organizers estimated that the rally led by student survivors of the deadly Parkland, Fla., school shooting last month drew a crowd of nearly 800,000 people throughout the day, outpacing original estimates. More 
 
 (Source: The Hill - Mar 25) 
 
 SOYUZ SPACECRAFT WITH CREW OF THREE DOCKS WITH SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz ferry ship carrying a Russian commander and two NASA astronauts caught up with the International Space Station Friday and executed a flawless docking to close out a two-day rendezvous that began with launch Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. With commander Oleg Artemyev monitoring an automated approach, the Soyuz MS-08/54S spacecraft docked at the station’s upper Poisk module at 3:40 p.m. EDT (GMT-5) as the two spacecraft sailed 254 miles above Serbia in orbital darkness. More 
 
 (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 24) 
 
 CHINA’S ROGUE SATELLITE LIKELY TO CRASH INTO EARTH OVER EASTER WEEKEND - The Big Apple is in the path of an out-of-control Chinese satellite that is expected to crash into Earth on Easter weekend, according to a report. Tiangong-1, a 9.4-ton piece of space junk known as the Heavenly Palace, will re-enter the atmosphere between March 30 and April 3, according to the European Space Agency. But exactly where the flaming projectile — which is carrying highly toxic substances — will strike remains a mystery. More 
 
 (Source: New York Post - Mar 24) 
 
 CHINA'S TIANGONG-1 SATELLITE ISN'T THE ONLY SPACE JUNK ABOVE US - It's not just China's Tiangong-1 space station that poses a potential threat. An informal census of debris in orbit finds lots of explosive potential floating around up there. Out-of-control Chinese space station Tiangong-1 is set to fall to Earth in the next few weeks, but it's unlikely to cause much damage should it make it all the way to the surface of the planet. There are, however, a number of disturbing hazards among the thousands of pieces of space junk orbiting high over our heads that we wouldn't want falling in our direction anytime soon. More 
 
 (Source: CNET - Mar 23) 
 
 ROCKET LAB’S DISCO BALL SATELLITE HAS PLUNGED BACK TO EARTH — AND SOME AREN’T SAD TO SEE IT GO - In January, US spaceflight startup Rocket Lab stealthily launched a small “disco ball” satellite into orbit as part of a cosmic art project aimed at inspiring people to come together and look up at the sky. But after just two months in space, the satellite — called the Humanity Star — has fallen back to Earth and burned up in the planet’s atmosphere. It brings a premature end to the probe’s life, which turned out to be more controversial than the company had hoped. No satellite in lower Earth orbit lasts forever. More 
 
 (Source: The Verge - Mar 23) 
 
 SOYUZ TAKES OFF WITH THREE BOUND FOR SPACE STATION - A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off and shot into orbit Wednesday, carrying a Russian cosmonaut and two NASA astronauts, all veteran space fliers, on a two-day flight to the International Space Station. With Soyuz MS-08/54S commander Oleg Artemyev at the controls in the spacecraft’s center seat, flanked on the left by flight engineer Drew Feustel and on the right by Ricky Arnold, the workhorse booster’s main engines ignited with a crackling roar at 1:44 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 11:44 p.m. local time) and quickly throttled up to full thrust. More 
 
 (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Mar 22) 
 
 60 YEARS IN ORBIT FOR ‘GRAPEFRUIT SATELLITE’ – THE OLDEST HUMAN OBJECT IN SPACE - Sixty years ago, a grapefruit-sized aluminium sphere with six antennas and some tiny solar cells was launched into Earth orbit. The Vanguard 1 satellite is still up there and is the oldest human-made object in space. It’s our first piece of space archaeology. Other early satellites – such as Sputnik 1, the first satellite to leave Earth in 1957, and Explorer 1, the first US satellite – have long since re-entered the atmosphere and burnt up. More 
 
 (Source: The Conversation AU - Mar 22) 
 
 ESA TO INVESTIGATE LINKS BETWEEN DEBRIS REMOVAL AND SATELLITE SERVICING - The European Space Agency is no longer proceeding full speed ahead with its campaign to send a 1,600-kilogram satellite into low Earth orbit to grab its defunct Earth observing Envisat and bring it back into the atmosphere around 2023. Instead, the agency has revised its e.Deorbit program plan to study the synergies between the mission and satellite servicing vehicles. “What we are implementing at the moment is a study to find out whether we should modify the mission design to make the vehicle more flexible and able to perform a variety of servicing missions including removing objects from orbit,” said Luisa Innocenti, head of EASA’s Clean Space Office. More 
 
 (Source: SpaceNews - Mar 22) 
 
 NASA’S ON-AGAIN, OFF-AGAIN SATELLITE - A satellite lost 13 years ago was just, briefly, found. Now a group of optimistic technicians may have a chance to bring it back into the fold. In January, amateur astronomer Scott Tilley of British Columbia sat in his home, scanning radio frequencies for the U.S. Air Force satellite lost after a January 7 SpaceX launch. Tilley indeed found a lost satellite, but not the one he intended. Using a satellite catalog, he looked up its transmitter frequency and spin rate, and realized he had to alert NASA. More 
 
 (Source: Air & Space Magazine - Mar 22) 
 
 RUSSIAN SOYUZ SET TO CARRY CREW TO SPACE STATION - Engineers readied a Russian Soyuz rocket for launch Wednesday to ferry a veteran cosmonaut and two NASA shuttle fliers to the International Space Station for a five-month stay. Soyuz commander Oleg Artemyev, flight engineer Andrew "Drew" Feustel and Richard "Ricky" Arnold are scheduled for launch aboard the Soyuz MS-08/54S spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1:44 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 11:44 p.m. local time). More 
 
 (Source: CBS News - Mar 21) Older news ||||| The Chinese space station Tiangong-1 has been hurtling out of control on a slow fall back to Earth for more than a year now, but it’s time for people to start looking up. 
 
 The odds of someone being injured by falling space junk are minimal, but the 9.4-ton space station, which translates to “Heavenly Palace 1” has fallen below 185 miles in altitude, although that fluctuates. 
 
 The lower the altitude, the more dense the atmosphere, and the faster the degradation of the orbiting hunk of metal will occur. 
 
 When China told the United Nations that its space station that was launched in 2011 was on a downward spiral, predictions were that it would crash to Earth somewhere between October 2017 and April 2018. 
 
 A quick look at the satellite-tracking website N2YO.com lets you keep an eye on where Tiangong-1 including its altitude, which was at 315 km, or 196 miles, as of 9:30 a.m. You can see it here: www.n2yo.com/?s=37820 
 
 When it was operational, the space lab orbited at 230 miles above Earth. The International Space Station orbits at 250 miles above Earth. 
 
 In 2016, Wu Ping, deputy director of China's Manned Space Engineering office said most of the space station is expected to burn up on re-entry, but astrophysisist Jonathan McDowell told The Guardian that chunks weighing more than 200 pounds could make an impact on Earth. 
 
 There has never been a report of a person being injured by falling space debris, though, and that includes the 1979 disintegration of NASA’s Skylab, parts of which made impact outside Perth, Australia. 
 
 Meanwhile, China last year launched Tiangong-2, which has hosted Chinese astronauts called taikonauts for 30 days in 2016 and subsequent unmanned missions. Tiangong-1 was visited three times by Chinese spacecraft during its operational life including two manned missions. 
 
 CAPTION In the seven years since the shuttle program ended at the Space Coast, the region has returned from nearly 12 percent unemployment to 3.9 percent unemployment, bolstered by new companies and a diversified economy. In the seven years since the shuttle program ended at the Space Coast, the region has returned from nearly 12 percent unemployment to 3.9 percent unemployment, bolstered by new companies and a diversified economy. CAPTION In the seven years since the shuttle program ended at the Space Coast, the region has returned from nearly 12 percent unemployment to 3.9 percent unemployment, bolstered by new companies and a diversified economy. In the seven years since the shuttle program ended at the Space Coast, the region has returned from nearly 12 percent unemployment to 3.9 percent unemployment, bolstered by new companies and a diversified economy. CAPTION It's the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, and lunar trivia buffs have plenty of questions. It's the 49th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the moon, and lunar trivia buffs have plenty of questions. CAPTION Sarah Boye and her daughters tour the new Sally Ride Elementary School, Wednesday, August 1, 2018. The Boye family made the suggestion that the new school be named to commemorate Dr. Ride as the first woman in space. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Sarah Boye and her daughters tour the new Sally Ride Elementary School, Wednesday, August 1, 2018. The Boye family made the suggestion that the new school be named to commemorate Dr. Ride as the first woman in space. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) CAPTION Astronauts from NASA and Boeing discuss upcoming mission scheduled next year. In the former processing facility for NASA’s space shuttle, Boeing workers put some touches onto three capsules, in varying stages of construction and completion, that will carry astronauts into space. Astronauts from NASA and Boeing discuss upcoming mission scheduled next year. In the former processing facility for NASA’s space shuttle, Boeing workers put some touches onto three capsules, in varying stages of construction and completion, that will carry astronauts into space. CAPTION A new video from Blue Origin lets would-be space travelers know what they're getting into. A new video from Blue Origin lets would-be space travelers know what they're getting into. 
 
 rtribou@orlandosentinel.com, 407-420-5134 ||||| Pieces weighing up to 100kg could make it to the surface, says expert, when out-of-control 8.5-tonne laboratory breaks apart in the atmosphere 
 
 An 8.5-tonne Chinese space station has accelerated its out-of-control descent towards Earth and is expected to crash to the surface within a few months. 
 
 The Tiangong-1 or “Heavenly Palace” lab was launched in 2011 and described as a “potent political symbol” of China, part of an ambitious scientific push to turn China into a space superpower. 
 
 It was used for both manned and unmanned missions and visited by China’s first female astronaut, Liu Yang, in 2012. 
 
 But in 2016, after months of speculation, Chinese officials confirmed they had lost control of the space station and it would crash to Earth in 2017 or 2018. China’s space agency has since notified the UN that it expects Tiangong-1 to come down between October 2017 and April 2018. 
 
 Since then the station’s orbit has been steadily decaying. In recent weeks it has dipped into more dense reaches of Earth’s atmosphere and started falling faster. 
 
 “Now that [its] perigee is below 300km and it is in denser atmosphere, the rate of decay is getting higher,” said Jonathan McDowell, a renowned astrophysicist from Harvard University and a space industry enthusiast. 
 
 “I expect it will come down a few months from now – late 2017 or early 2018.” 
 
 Although much of the craft is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, McDowell says some parts might still weigh up to 100kg when they crash into the Earth’s surface. 
 
 The chance that anyone will be harmed by the debris is considered remote but China told the United Nations “Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space” in May that it would carefully monitor the craft’s descent and inform the United Nations when it begins its final plunge. 
 
 Predicting where it is going to come down would be impossible even in the days ahead of its landing, McDowell said. 
 
 “You really can’t steer these things,” he said in 2016. “Even a couple of days before it re-enters we probably won’t know better than six or seven hours, plus or minus, when it’s going to come down. Not knowing when it’s going to come down translates as not knowing where it’s going to come down.” 
 
 McDowell said a slight change in atmospheric conditions could nudge the landing site “from one continent to the next”. 
 
 There have been many uncontrolled re-entries of larger spacecraft and none have ever been reported to have caused injuries to people. 
 
 In 1991 the Soviet Union’s 20-tonne Salyut 7 space station crashed to Earth while still docked to another 20-tonne spacecraft called Cosmos 1686. They broke up over Argentina, scattering debris over the town of Capitán Bermúdez. 
 
 Nasa’s enormous 77-tonne Skylab space station came hurtling to Earth in an almost completely uncontrolled descent in 1979, with some large pieces landing outside Perth in Western Australia. ||||| Tiangong-1 lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 29, 2011 Getty Images / Lintao Zhang / Staff 
 
 The first Chinese space station, Tiangong-1 or ‘Heavenly Place’ launched in 2011, was only supposed to stay in orbit for two years. Seven years later, and we are being told the satellite is officially out of control, and will crash into our planet in the next few months. 
 
 The space station was the first step in an ambitious space programme that sets out China’s goal of landing on the dark side of the moon by next year, and sending a spacecraft to Mars, landing there in the next decade. "Our overall goal is that, by around 2030, China will be among the major space powers of the world," Wu Yanhua, deputy chief of the National Space Administration, said in January. 
 
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 After a relatively late start to the space race, China is trying to catch up by pumping billions of dollars into its efforts. But, whether or not this will translate into success remains to be seen as the new space race is extremely competitive. Nasa announced last month it would be teaming up with Roscosmos to aid its efforts to get to Mars, with the first step a space station orbiting the moon. 
 
 China’s plans also involve starting off at the moon, where the nation sent a rover that its population ended up falling in love with. When the Chinese moon lander Yutu, also known as Jade Rabbit, suffered a mechanical issue that led to its mission ending, it pulled on the heartstrings of its dedicated followers. 
 
 Read next How likely is it that you'll get hit by China's Tiangong-1 space station? How likely is it that you'll get hit by China's Tiangong-1 space station? 
 
 “I’m aware that I might not survive this lunar night,” the rover was quoted as saying in an article by China's state-run Xinhua news, speaking from the voice of the spacecraft. “I am but a tiny dot in the vast picture of mankind’s adventure in space… Goodnight, Earth. Goodnight, humanity.” 
 
 The Shenzhou X manned spacecraft conducting docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 Getty Images / VCG / Contributor 
 
 The next Chinese venture to the moon will be attempting a soft landing on the dark side of the moon in 2018. Whether or not the nation will achieve its goals is yet to be seen. Although it has a vast amount of money, with President Xi Jinping tripling spending on space last year, the country is in a weaker position politically. The collaboration between nations that has led to so many successful space missions is not as accessible for China. 
 
 In 2011 it was decided China was not allowed to be part of the International Space Station (ISS) collaboration, when the US Congress passed a law stating it was concerned about national security. The ISS is a joint mission between the US, Canada, Japan, Russia and Europe. 
 
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 The failure of Tiangong-1 might not be a good sign for China’s ambitions. It has been confirmed the space station is going to crash into Earth soon, and although it will mainly burn up in the atmosphere, pieces as large as 100kg could hit the planet. 
 
 “Now that [its] perigee is below 300km and it is in denser atmosphere, the rate of decay is getting higher,” said Jonathan McDowell, a renowned astrophysicist from Harvard University and a space industry enthusiast. “I expect it will come down a few months from now – late 2017 or early 2018.” 
 
 The Russian, European and American space programmes have not been without their mistakes, and China is considered a growing space power over the world. However, the goal of reaching Mars by 2020 appears to seem a long way off.
– Look up and you might see a bird, a plane, or 200-pound chunks of China's space lab falling from the sky. Actually, the chance of that last one is remote, but technically possible, and now more than ever. China acknowledged last year that its Tiangong-1 lab, launched in 2011, was likely to plunge toward Earth this year or next. As the Orlando Sentinel explains, it's time to start keeping an eye skyward because the 9-ton craft has dropped below 185 miles in altitude, and things will only start accelerating from here. (You can actually track the craft here; the altitude level fluctuates.) China has narrowed the time frame of the final descent to somewhere between now and April 2018, and while most of the lab is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell tells the Guardian that chunks weighing about 200 pounds could make it through. China says it will alert the UN when the craft begins its descent, but the astrophysicist says six or seven hours is the most notice we can expect. Still, it's all but impossible to figure out where any debris might land, given that a tiny change in atmospheric conditions could move it "from one continent to the next," McDowell says. The odds are in your favor, however. No injuries have ever been reported as a result of falling spacecraft, despite the crashing of the Soviet Union's Salyut 7 space station in 1991 and the fall of NASA's 85-ton Skylab in 1979. China might be concerned, however, with what the failure of Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace," means for its progress in the "new space race," per Wired. (Still, China might be heading to the moon.)