SPECIAL: Live from the PSI Retreat in Tucson, AZ, Pamela, Annie and Susie bring you the daily space news and updates for the day.

The #DailySpace brings you the universe at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 5pm GMT on twitch.tv/CosmoQuestX. Today’s #spacenews includes the following stories:

 

AUG 30 – 13:45 UTC // 9:45 AM East Coast // 6:45 AM West Coast

Eurorocket Launch Services is launching a Rokot (yes, that’s seriously the name of the rocket) carrying Geo IK-2 3 (13L) from Plesetsk Cosmodrome for the Russian Military.

Geo IK-2 3 is a geodesy satellite that is part of a constellation that are intended to be used to create high precision three-dimensional maps of the Earth’s surface, and to monitor plate tectonics.

Satellite has a mass of around 1,400 kilograms.  As far as I can tell, it was supposed to be a constellation of 3 but the first one failed to enter usable orbit.  The second one is operational. I’m not sure if additional satellites will be added to the constellation.

Going to be honest: I’m not sure if there’s going to be a live stream.  Eurockot does not launch very often — usually once or twice a year. Because the customer is the Russian Military, I’m going to assume that there won’t be live coverage.

Sometime on AUG 31, ExPace — or the company formerly known as ExPace (more on that in a bit) — is launching a Kuaizhou 1A from
Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China. Mission? KX-09, which we know next to nothing about. We know it’s a small commercial satellite. That’s it. Not a clue what the satellite will actually do or who it’s for.

Also, it’s China, so no live feed. With the mysterious nature of the payload, I really don’t expect there to be a lot of coverage.

So, let’s talk about ExPace for a second. ExPace was — is?? — a commercial subsidiary of China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation which is a large state-owned company that is under direct administration from the government. It’s the main contractor for the Chinese space program. They have a lot of “child” companies and for awhile, ExPace was among them. ExPace had its own website, logo, the whole 9 yards. But finding much information about them now is difficult. There is no more ExPace website. According to Pitchbook, they went out of business in December 2018. And yet, here they are, getting ready to launch a rocket with a mystery mission. If other sources are accurate, there’s a couple more rockets that are going to be launched.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExPace
• https://china-aerospace.blog/2019/04/14/the-technical-choices-of-chinas-newspace-launcher-companies-in-2019/
• https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/223418-08
• https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kx-09.htm
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Aerospace_Science_and_Industry_Corporation

The Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft approaches the International Space Station late Monday, seen here through a camera looking out of the aft docking port of the Zvezda service module. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now

Soyuz Orbital Ballet successfully completed!

• https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/27/second-times-the-charm-for-soyuz-docking/

From the article:
“The original approach early Saturday went smoothly but when the Soyuz should have started moving in for docking, at a distance of about 300 feet [100 m], the Russian KURS navigation system was unable to lock onto the upper Poisk module, the intended docking port.

Television views from the station showed the spacecraft slewing about its long axis as if searching for a signal.”
Making use of a pre-programmed abort maneuver, the signal was sent to the spacecraft to back off to a safe distance as engineers on the ground investigated the problem. After reviewing the telemetry received from the Soyuz, they concluded that a faulty amplifier on the Poisk docking module aboard the ISS had failed, making the auto-docking procedure impossible.
The Ballet Steps:

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft flies over the Canadian Rocky Mountains in this view captured from the International Space Station after the supply ship departed Tuesday. Credit: NASA/Christina Koch @Astro_Christina |

• https://twitter.com/Astro_Christina/status/1166428213716967424
• https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/08/27/dragon-splashes-down-in-pacific-ocean-packed-with-science-and-cargo/
• https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/27/spacexs-dragon-capsule-back-on-earth-with-3400-pounds-of-cargo/

The Dragon capsule brought more than 2,300 kg / 5,000 lbs of cargo to the ISS on 27JUL for the CRS-18 mission, and has returned via a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 16:21 EDT / 20:21 UTC on Tuesday (yesterday, 27 AUG) w/over 1,500 kg /3,900 lbs of equipment & science experiments aboard. The mission delivered a $22.5 million docking adapter which will facilitate docking by future commercial crew missions, including SpaceX’s Crew Dragon & Boeing’s CS-100 Starliner, and a new EVA suit for the ISS crew, among other supplies.

The replaced space suit was onboard the return capsule, as were some 20 mice (presumably alive) which will be examined closely by scientists for the effects of microgravity on their immune systems, bone structure & internal organs. The capsule is due to arrive back at the Port of Los Angeles after its splashdown some 300 miles / 480 kilometers SW of Long Beach, CA., where time sensitive materials (such as the mice!) will be handed over to NASA scientists. It was the third round-trip flight to/from the ISS for this capsule; the SpaceX Dragon capsule is currently the only capsule that can safely return cargo to the Earth from the ISS.

Starhopper hopped into retirement!

• https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/08/27/spacex-launches-starship-hopper-on-dramatic-test-flight/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYb3bfA6_sQ (SpaceX video)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=lsoS6C0uzGY (Everyday Astronaut)

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