First 2021 Launch from Vostochny and Second for India Set to Liftoff
Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast, Russia is planned to see its 6th launch on March 26 with Arianespace Soyuz 2.1b flight ST30 carrying OneWeb 5 mission for commercial broadband communications. This will be Arianespace first commercial Soyuz mission from Vostochny managed through its subsidiary Starsem. After using ion thrusters to raise altitude to ~1,200 km, these 36 satellites, each weighing 147.5 kg, will join 110 others already in a near-circular polar orbit. There are 15 additional Soyuz OneWeb launches planned to complete fleet at 648. Considering space debris mitigation, OneWeb sats are designed for minimum 5-year lifetime with post-mission disposal operation taking less than one year. India first GEO Imaging Satellite GISAT 1 with a 7-year lifetime is slated to launch Mar 28 on ISRO GSLV-F10 Mk 2 from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India. This will be the 14th overall launch of a GSLV. Its identical twin GISAT 2 (launching late 2021) will also image in multi-spectral and hyper-spectral bands, feature electronically steerable, phased array antenna and 700 mm Ritchey–Chrétien telescope based on the design of Cartosat-2A, have launch masses of 2,268 kg and orbit in GTO at 170 x 35,975 km. With 13 other missions scheduled to launch this year, next up could be ISRO demonstration of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle in April. (Image Credits: Arianespace, OneWeb, ISRO, Roscosmos)
MONDAY
Highlights… Mar 22 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 seven-member crew again utilizing tea leaves to follow intractable air leak, preparing for Soyuz 64S arrival, working with ribosome profiling experiment, performing in-flight interviews with JAXA & Discovery Channel; newly discovered novel bacteria strains on ISS may house useful genetics.
Women in Space, Space Commerce, Space Security Are Subjects of Meetings Around World This Week
Secure World Foundation and partners to host a roundtable discussion March 23 in conjunction with launch of War and Peace in Outer Space, a new book by Cassandra Steer (Australian National University) and Matthew Hersch (Harvard) on moral implications of space diplomacy and weaponization. SPACETIDE 2021: The Evolution of Commercial Space is to feature 60 speakers from 10 countries over 2-day conference to be held virtually on Day 1 (Mar 24) and in-person / online hybrid Day 2 from Mori Tower in Tokyo (Mar 25). Sessions on Beginning of the Human Space Flight Era (moderated by Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki), Formation of Lunar Society Accelerated by Global Public-Private Partnership and New Rocket Trends will be held on day 1, while the following day focuses on domestic Japan space industry, government and academia, with sessions on Social Issues, Newspace and 3 ‘Fireside Chats’. Edinburgh Women in Space Conference is being held online from Scotland Mar 26-28, featuring keynote speakers Sue Horne, Head of Space Exploration at UK Space Agency; Sarah Gallagher, Chief Science Advisor at Canadian Space Agency and Yvette Hopkins, Executive of Shetland Space Centre. Essay, Art and Video competitions will run concurrently with the conference, with student entries on topics such as Space Sustainability, Interstellar Travel, Commercialization of the Space Sector, New Worlds and Human Exploration. Additionally, International Astronautical Federation is holding spring 2021 meetings March 15 – April 1. (Image Credits: SWF, Edinburgh Women in Space Conference, SPACETIDE Foundation, NASA)
Mar 22 – Apr 1 —International Astronautical Federation,Online / Paris, France: IAF Spring Meetings 2021.
Mar 22 — Moon: 7.0° S of Castor, 20:00.
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.
Mar 23 — Secure World Foundation, Australian National University Centre for International and Public Law, Harvard University Dept of the History of Science, University of Pennsylvania Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, Online / Washington DC:Roundtable on “War and Peace in Outer Space”.
Mar 24-25 — SPACETIDE, Kyocera Corporation, SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, Sakura internet Inc., Mitsubishi, Shimizu Corporation, SMBC Nikko Securities, et al, Online / Tokyo, Japan: SPACETIDE 2021: The Evolution of Commercial Space; featuring Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, Ariane Cornell from Blue Origin, Steve Lindsey from Sierra Nevada, Akihide Manabe of Space Walker, Takeshi Hakamada from ispace, Lisa May from Lockheed Martin, others.
Mar 24 — Moon: 2.81° NNE of Beehive Cluster, 02:00.
THURSDAY
Mar 25 — NASA Marshall Space Flight Center History Office, University of Alabama in Huntsville, ISS U.S. National Laboratory,Online / Huntsville AL:NASA and the Rise of Commercial Space Symposium; featuring keynote talk by Steve Lee of Astrosat.
Mar 26-28 —AstroSat, University of Edinburgh, Institute of Physics, ROOM Space Journal,Online / Edinburgh, United Kingdom: Edinburgh Women in Space Conference.
SATURDAY
Mar 27 — Earth Hour: Occurring 20:30 in every time zone, Earth Hour raises awareness of issues of our environment and planet.
Mar 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2021 CX5: Near-Earth Flyby (0.020 AU)
Mar 27 — Apollo Asteroid 2020 GE: Near-Earth Flyby (0.033 AU)
SUNDAY
Mar 28 — ISRO, Launch GSLV Mk. 2 / GISAT 1,Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India: Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk. 2, designated GSLV-F10, to launch India first GEO Imaging Satellite GISAT 1.
Mar 28 — Daylight Saving Time (Europe): Change clocks forward 1 hour, from Standard Time to Summer Time.
Mar 28 — Moon: Full Worm Moon, 08:49.
Mar 28 — Venus: Venus brightest, magnitude -3.91°, 16:00.
Emanating from ~6km-wide comet with 5.3-year Solar orbit, visible in constellation Aquarius near star Delta Aquarii, fast, faint meteors peak on this night, best...
The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference...
Includes ~150 meetings covering the fields of COSPAR Scientific Commissions / Panels / Task Groups, such as SC B: The Earth-Moon System, Planets, and...
From 02 to 07 August 2026, a few thousand geoscientists across diverse disciplines will gather at the 23rd annual meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences...
NASA Curiosity (Mars Science Laboratory) rover surpasses another full year of operations on Mars surface today; launched Nov 26, 2011 – landed Aug 5,...
This international lunar science meeting has two objectives: to provide a platform for leading experts to review recent advances across lunar research, from the...
At CSIR International Convention Centre. Key topics are Earth Observation, Developing Space Tourism, Space Supply Manufacturing. Cultural tours are offered.
Participants will receive theoretical and hands-on training in electron imaging and X-ray spectroscopy for application to planetary samples. This training opportunity is targeted at...
"Leading Australia’s Space Future for Our Strategic Advantage". Southern Space 2026 brings together decision-makers who set the direction for Australia’s space sector. It is...
Includes presentation of the Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence, activities for the new class of Astronaut Scholars, 2-day Technical Conference where Scholars present their...
Key themes include: Characterizing exoplanet-host solar-like stars; Star-planet interactions; Planet populations around solar-like stars. At University of Liège.
Mar 22 — ISS, ~405-km LEO: Expedition 64 seven-member crew again utilizing tea leaves to follow intractable air leak, preparing for Soyuz 64S arrival, working with ribosome profiling experiment, performing in-flight interviews with JAXA & Discovery Channel; newly discovered 
Mar 22 — NewSpace: SpaceX bid on NASA smallsat contract prompts 
Mar 22 — USA: Bill Nelson, Pamela Melroy may become 
= All times
= 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’).
Secure World Foundation and partners to host a roundtable discussion March 23 in conjunction with launch of War and Peace in Outer Space, a new book by Cassandra Steer (Australian National University) and Matthew Hersch (Harvard) on moral implications of space diplomacy and weaponization. SPACETIDE 2021: The Evolution of Commercial Space is to feature 60 speakers from 10 countries over 2-day conference to be held virtually on Day 1 (Mar 24) and in-person / online hybrid Day 2 from Mori Tower in Tokyo (Mar 25). Sessions on Beginning of the Human Space Flight Era (moderated by Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki), Formation of Lunar Society Accelerated by Global Public-Private Partnership and New Rocket Trends will be held on day 1, while the following day focuses on domestic Japan space industry, government and academia, with sessions on Social Issues, Newspace and 3 ‘Fireside Chats’. Edinburgh Women in Space Conference is being held online from Scotland Mar 26-28, featuring keynote speakers Sue Horne, Head of Space Exploration at UK Space Agency; Sarah Gallagher, Chief Science Advisor at Canadian Space Agency and Yvette Hopkins, Executive of Shetland Space Centre. Essay, Art and Video competitions will run concurrently with the conference, with student entries on topics such as Space Sustainability, Interstellar Travel, Commercialization of the Space Sector, New Worlds and Human Exploration. Additionally, International Astronautical Federation is holding spring 2021 meetings March 15 – April 1. (Image Credits: SWF, Edinburgh Women in Space Conference, SPACETIDE Foundation, NASA)
Mar 27 — Earth Hour: Occurring 20:30 in every time zone, Earth Hour raises awareness of issues of our environment and planet.
