March 15-21, 2021 / Vol 40, No 11 / Hawai`i Island, USA

Russia Launching Compact Advanced Satellite (CAS500-1) Along With Numerous International Commercial Payloads

Primary Korea Aerospace Research Institute payload CAS500-1 is sharing a ride to SSO (497.8km) with spacecraft from 17 nations aboard Soyuz-2.1a utilizing Fregat upper stage March 20 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. CAS500-1 contains a state-of-the-art Earth imaging sensor capable of resolving 0.5m (panchromatic) / 2m (color). This rideshare is slated to be the first commercial mission organized by GK Launch Services, a partnership between Glavkosmos (subsidiary of Roscosmos) and International Space Company Kosmotras. Notable secondary payloads include Astroscale of Japan End-Of-Life-Service (ELSA-d) debris mitigation technology In-Orbit Demonstration. ELSA-d will showcase decommissioning technique involving 180kg “Chaser” and 20kg “Target” (developed by SSTL) which are to perform maneuvers validating magnetic capture / docking, controlled from National In-orbit Servicing Control Center Facility in the UK. Also from Japan, Axelspace is sending 4 additions to its constellation: GRUS-1B, 1C, 1D, 1E are <100 kg smallsats with 57-km imaging swath with 1.4 day observation frequency in most inhabited latitudes. Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre is sending pollution monitor DMSAT-1. Gauss of Italy will test cubesat injection with Unisat-7. The first indigenously developed satellite from Tunisia, a constellation precursor, will coincide with the nation’s 65th Independence Day. IAF contest winner Kenya National Park wildlife monitoring 1U SIMBA cubesat is also riding along, as are craft from Saudi Arabia, Israel, Thailand, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Hungary, Spain and Slovakia. (Image Credits: Glavkosmos, Roscosmos, Astroscale, Axelspace, RSC Energia, KARI, GK Launch Services)

MONDAY

Highlights…
Mar 15 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 seven-member crew to facilitate Soyuz MS-17 relocation Friday in preparation for early April arrival of Soyuz MS-18 and 3 crew; working with Asian Herb experiment for 30 days, troubleshooting ISS Experience EVA Z-Cam power issues; Cosmonauts continue sealing air leak in Zvezda.

Mar 15 — NewSpace: Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital vehicle to simulate lunar gravity late 2022; India NewSpace companies Pixxel, Earth2Orbit, SKI discuss access to testing facilities & affordable space-grade components; FCC filings show SpaceX planning to offer Starlink ISP for cars, planes and boats.

Mar 15 — Solar System: Mars Express monitoring 150 x 1,800km water ice cloud; aiding geological evolution data, new study shows Mercury contraction may have been less than 2-4 km; OSIRIS-Rex executing trajectory maneuvers to prepare for April 7 final flyby of Asteroid Bennu.

Mar 15 — Galaxy: NOIRLab 63-galaxy survey exacerbates variance between local expansion rate vs cosmic dark age expansion estimates; reverse orbit exoplanet system K2-290 opens new class of planetary configuration for study; planning for long-term missions, ways to counter radiation effects on cardiovascular health being investigated..

Mar 15 — Global: China and Russia officially partner on Moon cooperation; microbialites around Lake Salda in Turkey may provide terrestrial analog to Jezero crater samples; OHB Sweden-led consortium to build Arctic Earth observation satellite for ESA under US$38M+ deal.

Mar 15 — USA: Michelle Hanlon of For All Moonkind to lead National Space Society for 2021-2023 term; Aerojet Rocketdyne shareholders approve US$4.4B Lockheed Martin buyout planned for late 2021; EIS for proposed spaceport in Camden GA delayed to April, FAA to rule on application by June.

Mar 15 — Hawai’i: 3D-printed rocket builder Relativity Space showcases all-female analog mission Sensoria M2 in video, current HI-SEAS mission Valoria 2 working on mockumentary; 1,000 year old cosmic radio jet emanating from quasar P172+18 per VLBA, originally discovered by Pan-STARRS.

Mar 15-17 — NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee, Online / Washington DC: Astrophysics Advisory Committee Meeting; 11:00-17:00 EDT.

= All times

for terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for international terrestrial events in local time unless noted.

= All times for space events, and…

= All times for international space / astro events in Hawaii Standard Time unless noted. Add 10 hours to obtain UT (‘Universal Time’).

Weekly Planet Watch – Evening Planets: Mars (W), Uranus (W); Morning Planets: Mercury (ESE), Jupiter (ESE), Saturn (ESE).

American Space Advocacy Meetings Start Next Week with LPSC 52

Seven upcoming events online highlight various space development themes being advanced by venerable space organizations. 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on March 15-19 by LPI, NASA, USRA and JSC will be chaired by (L) Lisa Gaddis and Eileen Stansbery and feature nearly 3,000 accepted abstracts for live & recorded oral and poster presentations. AIAA is hosting 2021 Congressional Visits Day to raise awareness of the long-term value that science, engineering and technology bring to America on Mar 15-19, and co-hosting with Lockheed Martin the AscendxSummit: Accelerating the Next-Generation Workforce on Mar 16 with two webinars and an interactive workshop. Secure World Foundation webinar on ‘Security and Stability of Space: What You Need to Know’ features representatives from UN, UK and Victoria Samson of SWF. The 3-day ‘NASA and the Rise of Commercial Space Symposium’ is being held Mar 17-19 by MSFC History Office and Univ. of AL Huntsville. Some of the 26 speakers are Scott Pace, Pete Worden, Eric Berger, Brian Odom and Amy Kaminski. Global Alliance for International Space Collaboration Inaugural Congress on Mar 18-19 is supported by Space Renaissance International, NSS, SSPI and NASA. The 6 sessions will have talks by Madhu Thangavelu, Michelle Hanlon, Juan De Dalmau, Peter Martinez, Bernard Foing and Jean-Jacques Tortora. The American Astronautical Society ‘Future in Space’ discussion is on ‘Viewing Exoplanets Through A Solar Gravity Lens’ Mar 19. (Image Credits: LPI, USRA, NASA, AIAA, SWF, AAS, GALIX, LMC, et al)

 Mar 15-19 — LPI, NASA, USRA, JSC, Online / Houston TX: 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC 2021).

Mar 15-19 — AIAA, Online / Washington DC: Congressional Visits Day 2021.

Mar 15 – Apr 15 — W. M. Keck Observatory, CFHT, Kamuela HI: 2021 Waimea Solar System Walk.

Mar 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 EN3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.006 AU)

Mar 15 — Aten Asteroid 2021 EX: Near-Earth Flyby (0.025 AU)

Mar 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 EL1: Near-Earth Flyby (0.035 AU)

Mar 15 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 CX8: Near-Earth Flyby (0.047 AU)

Continued From…
 NET Early 2021 — ISRO, Launch SSLV / Demonstration Launch, Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: New Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) to launch on first orbital test flight.

NET Mar — International Astronautical Federation, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), Online: IAC 2021 Press Conference; providing updates for 72nd IAC being held Oct 25-29.

TUESDAY

Mar 16 — AIAA, Lockheed Martin, Online / Washington DC: AscendxSummit: Accelerating the Next-Generation Workforce.

Mar 16 — SETI Institute, Online / Mountain View CA: Space Science for Families: Citizen Science Astronomy for Classrooms; with Dan Peluso, Astrophysics PhD candidate at University of Southern Queensland, 19:00-20:00 PDT.

Mar 16 — Secure World Foundation, Online / Washington DC: Security and Stability of Space: What You Need to Know; 10:00-11:30 EDT.

Mar 16-17 — Airbus, OHB, SpaceOpal, Syntony GNSS, GMV, Online / Munich, Germany: Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2021.

Mar 16-20 — SXSW LLC, Online / Austin TX: South by Southwest Conference (SXSW 2021).

Mar 16 — Moon: 2.52° SE of Uranus, 19:00.

Mar 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 EQ3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.002 AU)

Mar 16 — Aten Asteroid 2021 EJ3: Near-Earth Flyby (0.005 AU)

Mar 16 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 DT: Near-Earth Flyby (0.047 AU)

WEDNESDAY

Mar 17 — British Interplanetary Society, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Flight Dynamics Operations for ESA Deep Space Missions; by Francesco Castellini – Flight Dynamics Engineer, ESA/ESOC; 18:00 UTC.

Mar 17 — SETI Institute, Online / Mountain View CA: Celebrating Stephen Hawking: How Black Holes are Not Quite Black; 19:30-21:00 PDT.

Mar 17-19 — 3AF (Association Aéronautique et Astronautique de France), ESA, Online: 7th Space Propulsion Conference (2020+1).

Mar 17-19 — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center History Office, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Online / Huntsville AL: NASA and the Rise of Commercial Space Symposium.

Mar 17 — Moon: At apogee (distance 405,268 km), 19:00.

Mar 17 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 EO2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.016 AU)

THURSDAY

Mar 18 — Boeing, NASA, Stennis Space Center MS: SLS core stage 2nd hot fire test planned.

Mar 18-19 — Global Alliance for International Space Collaboration (GALIX), Space Renaissance International, National Space Society, Space Satellite Professionals International, NASA, Online: GALIX Inaugural Congress 2021; featuring participants from ISU, ILEWG, Moon Village Association, For All Moonkind, Off World Inc, ESPI, International Moonbase Alliance, others.

Mar 18 — Moon: 5.2° SE of Pleiades, 16:00.

FRIDAY

Mar 19 — ISS, Relocation of Soyuz MS-17, 405-km LEO: ISS Expedition 64 Soyuz MS-17 Spacecraft to be relocated from Rassvet module to Poisk module; undocking scheduled 12:38 EDT, redocking 13:07; live coverage available.

Mar 19 — American Astronautical Society, Online: Discussion: Viewing Exoplanets Through A Solar Gravity Lens; with Tony Darnell, Louis Friedman, Slava Turyshev, 15:00 EDT.

Mar 19 — March Equinox: The Sun rises exactly in east traveling through sky for 12 hours, sets exactly in west; every place on Earth experiences a 12-hour day; 23:40.

Mar 19 — Moon: 1.89° SE of Mars, 10:00; 5.1° N of Aldebaran, 10:00.

Mar 19 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 EY2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.024 AU)

SATURDAY

Mar 20 — Roscosmos, Launch Soyuz / CAS500 1, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan: Soyuz rocket to launch rideshare mission managed by GK Launch Services including CAS500 1 Earth observation satellite for KARI, Astroscale ELSA-d active debris removal demonstration mission, 4 Earth-imaging microsatellites built by Axelspace of Japan.

Mar 20 — British Interplanetary Society West Midlands Branch, Online / London, United Kingdom: Lecture: Missions with the Scorpion; by Mark Hempsell; 14:00 UTC.

Mar 20 — Mars: 6.9° N of Aldebaran, 22:00.

Mar 20 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 DP2: Near-Earth Flyby (0.019 AU)

SUNDAY

Mar 21 — SpaceX, Launch Falcon 9 / Starlink V1.0-L22, LC-40, Cape Canaveral SFS FL: Falcon 9 to launch next batch of ~60 satellites for SpaceX Starlink broadband network; 00:37 EDT.

Mar 21 — Moon: At first quarter, 04:41; 0.73° N of M35 cluster, 07:00.

Mar 21 — Apollo Asteroid 231937 (2001 FO32): Near-Earth Flyby (0.013 AU)