Launch of new satellites Update

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Launch of new satellites Update

Navigation satellite launched from Cape Canaveral

On December 17, 2024, at 00:52 UTC (03:52 Moscow time), SpaceX launch teams, with the support of combat crews from the 45th Space Wing of the US Space Force, launched the Falcon 9FT Block 5 (F9-410) launch vehicle with the GPS III SV10 'Hedy Lamarr' (RRT-1) navigation satellite from the SLC-40 pad of the US Space Station Cape Canaveral (Florida, USA).
The launch was successful, and the spacecraft was placed into low-Earth orbit.
The spacecraft is named after Hedy Lamarr, an actress and inventor of the 1930s and 1940s who invented the technology of changing radio frequencies, which later led to the current safe use of GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth networks. The satellite has a mass of about 4 tons.
The first stage B1085, used for the fourth time, after completing its flight mission, landed on the ASOG sea platform, located in the Atlantic Ocean 644 km from the launch site.

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The Long March-5B launch vehicle launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center

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On December 16, 2024, at 10:00 UTC (13:00 Moscow time), the Long March-5B (Y6) launch vehicle with the Yuan March-2 (Y2) upper stage and the first group (10 spacecraft) of satellites of the low-orbit satellite internet mega-constellation (Chinese: 卫星互联网低轨01组10星) was launched from pad 101 of the Wenchang Cosmodrome.
The launch was successful, the spacecraft were put into low-Earth orbit.
This launch was the 552nd for the Long March family of rockets.

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Russia is accelerating the development and deployment of a sovereign multi-orbit satellite constellation.
JSC Reshetnev is currently conducting autonomous tests of the onboard control system (BKU) of the Express-AMU4 spacecraft, according to the company's official Telegram channel. This satellite, being developed as part of the national "Cosmos" project, will be the first entirely domestically produced communications satellite. According to Reshetnev CEO Mikhail Valov, the passive equipment has already been fully imported, and the active part is undergoing endurance testing with an emphasis on reliability and resistance to external influences. An important task is the planned replacement of eight obsolete geostationary satellites between 2025 and 2030, which will be carried out without interruption.

Mikhail Valov also spoke at the "Digital Solutions" information technology forum, where he emphasized Reshetnev's key role as the main manufacturer of satellite communications and relay systems in the country, noting its growing competencies in the creation of payloads—onboard equipment for satellite missions.

The country's key strategic objective is the transition from a single-orbit to a multi-orbital architecture.

Coming soon The Express-RV system, consisting of four satellites in a highly elliptical orbit, has been deployed to cover the Arctic and northern latitudes. Bureau 1440 is preparing the commercial launch of a low-orbit constellation by 2027. The Rassvet-1 and Rassvet-2 missions are already testing advanced technologies, such as inter-satellite laser communications and integration with 5G-NTN. The goal is to create a full constellation of more than 250 satellites for global coverage, with a particular focus on northern regions.

Alexey Volin, head of Kosmicheskaya Svyaz, noted at the Digital Solutions information technology forum that there is "free space" in medium orbit in the emerging ecosystem, where approximately 12-16 satellites are needed to back up low-orbit constellations for high-speed data transmission.

Unification of subscriber terminals for operation in different orbits is planned. New satellites built after 2024 will also be capable of Direct-to-Device (D2D) service in the S-band.

To support the industry's further development, expansion of the scientific infrastructure is planned. A National Satellite Engineering Center will be established in Krasnoyarsk Krai at SFU and Reshetnev, with annual funding of up to 1 billion rubles, as announced by Nikolai Raspopin, head of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media.

This comprehensive effort to create a domestic multi-orbit satellite ecosystem is aimed not only at meeting Russia's needs but also at ensuring the system's operability worldwide.

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SpaceX is preparing to launch 22 Starlink satellites on November 20.
SpaceX plans to launch 22 Starlink satellites from California on November 20. The Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for early morning.
SpaceX is scheduled to launch 22 new satellites for its Starlink space internet network from California early Monday morning, November 20.

A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base over the next four hours, beginning at 1:33 a.m. ET. The launch will be livestreamed on SpaceX's X page (formerly known as Twitter), starting five minutes before liftoff.

If all goes well, the Falcon 9's first stage will return to Earth 8.5 minutes after launch and land on the Of Course I Still Love You barge in the Pacific Ocean.

This launch will be the rocket's 15th, joining not only nine previous Starlink launches but also NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, where the spacecraft successfully impacted an asteroid in September 2022.

The 22 new Starlink satellites will enter Earth orbit approximately 62.5 minutes after liftoff.

The launch caps a busy weekend for SpaceX, which also launched 23 Starlink satellites from Florida on Friday and conducted the second test flight of Starship, a system for future exploration of the Moon and Mars.

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NASA says 3I/ATLAS observation campaign is unprecedented

NASA is conducting an unprecedented observation campaign for comet 3I/ATLAS
WASHINGTON, November 20 — RIA Novosti. NASA announced it is conducting an unprecedented observation campaign of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, deploying more than a dozen spacecraft across the Solar System.
"NASA is in the midst of an unprecedented observation campaign across the Solar System, deploying its spacecraft and telescopes to track Comet 3I/ATLAS," the agency said in a statement.
NASA noted that since its discovery on July 1, 12 spacecraft have already captured and processed images of the comet, with more missions expected to join in the coming months. According to the agency, observations from various locations in the Solar System allow scientists to compare the properties of the interstellar object with comets of local origin and better understand the composition of planetary systems beyond our own.

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Scientists have linked the "spiral in the sky" over Kolyma to the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket.
An unidentified object observed by residents of the Verkhnekolymsky district on the evening of November 17 may have been the second stage of a satellite launched from California.

According to eyewitnesses, the object was moving across the sky and spiraling. A correspondent for Ulus.Media contacted the Shafer Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences for clarification.

The institute speculated that the residents observed the second stage of the rocket launching the Sentinel-6B satellite into orbit.

"On that day, the Sentinel-6B satellite was launched in California. It's possible that what they saw was the second stage of the rocket. At 5:08 PM Kolyma time, it shut down and received a deceleration pulse upon reentry," commented Semyon Nikolashkin, Deputy Director of the Shafer Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Aeronomy of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to publicly available data, on the morning of November 17, 2025, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base and launched the Sentinel-6B satellite into orbit – a continuation of the joint NASA-EU mission to monitor global sea levels.