ISS Expedition 63 to Receive JAXA + Roscosmos Cargo Ships, 10 Astronauts from Dragon Demo-2, USCV-1, Soyuz MS-17 Missions

Japan is set to launch H-2B rocket to loft the 9th H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV or Kounotori ‘White Stork’) cargo ship towards International Space Station from Tanegashima Space Center on May 19 at 02:30 am local time. Expedition 63 crew, Commander Chris Cassidy, Flight Engineers Ivan Vagner and Anatoli Ivanishin will capture HTV-9 using Canadarm2 on May 25, and ground controllers will install it to Harmony module Earth-facing port. Carrying 6,200 kg of supplies including fresh food, water, air, science experiments and 6 lithium-ion batteries, HTV-9 will stay attached for 2 months. Cygnus NG-13 cargo ship, released from ISS on May 11, will be commanded to de-orbit for disintegration in Earth atmosphere May 29. Exp 63 is planning to welcome SpaceX Demo Mission-2 on May 28 with Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who would become the first to launch from USA soil since 2011. This crew could remain a 6-member team for 1 to 4 months, depending on how well Crew Dragon solar panels perform, allowing for ISS USA EVAs, additional science experiments and maintenance. Exp 63 is scheduled to also greet Roscosmos Progress 76P cargo ship July 23, the first operational Commercial Crew Program flight (USCV-1) NET September, and three crew members of Soyuz MS-17 October 14. Exp 63 returns to Earth October 22 in Soyuz MS-16, marking the start of Exp 64. (Image Credits: NASA, JAXA, SpaceX, Roscosmos)

MONDAY

The Aerospace Corporation Provides Expert Commentary on Contemporary Space Policy Issues

As a service to the space community The Space Policy Show, a production of The Aerospace Corporation’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, premieres a weekly online series. Currently broadcast online Thursdays at 13:00 EDT, with upcoming episode set for May 21 featuring Policy Analyst (L-R) Mick Gleason, National Security Senior Project Engineer Sam Wilson and Ellen Stofan of Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on the topic of The Value of Space. Previous talks focus on Resource Utilization, Enterprise, Debris and Blockchain, among other subjects. Based primarily in El Segundo, California with 4,000 employees and revenues of US$1.1B in FY 2019, The Aerospace Corporation, a nonprofit, federally funded research and development center has deep roots in the USA Space Program. Spun off from the conglomerate Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Aerospace was meant to function as a “national security space partner free from conflicts of interest”. Since establishment in 1960, Aerospace has contributed engineering expertise to the ICBM-to-rocket conversions of Atlas and Titan, Projects Mercury and Gemini, the Space Shuttle program, and the development of GPS. Currently, Aerospace is the recipient of the NASA Specialized Engineering, Evaluation and Test Services contract, worth US$621M over 9 years, which went into effect October 1, 2019 – National Reconnaissance Office and Space and Missile Systems Center of the USAF are also primary customers. (Image Credits: The Aerospace Corporation, NASA)

May 18 — Celestis,

May 18-20 — SmarterShows, Long Beach CA: Space Tech Expo USA 2020; postponed to August 10-12.

May 18-22 — International Astronautical Federation, South African National Space Agency, Tourvest, Cape Town, South Africa: 16th SpaceOps conference (SpaceOps 2020): Beyond Boundaries in Human Endeavour; postponed to May 3-7, 2021.

May 18 — Aten Asteroid 2020 HG9: Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU)

Continued from…

Jan 2019 – Sep 2020 — New Horizons, Kuiper Belt: Full data collected from 7 instruments during KBO Arrokoth flyby to be transmitted to Earth over this time period.

Nov 2019 – Nov 2020 — Hayabusa2, Earth Trajectory: JAXA Hayabusa2 with two samples collected from C-type asteroid 162173 Ryugu on trajectory for Earth return.

Mar 16 – Sep 16 — SpaceX, Boca Chica Beach TX: SpaceX to attempt Starship flight to 20-km altitude during this timeframe.

May 9 – Jul 11 — AIAA Los Angeles – Las Vegas Section, Online: Virtual Aerospace Art Gallery Exhibition.

TUESDAY

May 19 / 20 — JAXA, Launch H-2B / HTV 9, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan: Japan H-2B rocket to launch ninth H-2 Transfer Vehicle (Kounotori or white stork) to ISS for Expedition 63, 02:30 local time May 20 / 13:30 EDT May 19, live coverage available.

May 19 — Satcoms Innovation Group, Goonhilly Earth Station, Cornwall, United Kingdom: Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG) Workshop; focusing on communications in LEO, MEO and Deep Space; conference TBC.