Upcoming Launches and Big Events and Space Events Around Houston (August 2019)

(Launch information is from https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/)

LAUNCH: August 5, 2019 – Proton • Blagovest No. 14L- A Russian government Proton rocket and Breeze M upper stage will launch the Blagovest No. 14L communications satellite to cover Russian territory and provide high-speed Internet, television and radio broadcast, and voice and video conferencing services for Russian domestic and military users.

LAUNCH: August 5, 2019 – 4:52 PM Central – SpaceX Falcon 9 launch – Amos-17 – A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Amos 17 communications satellite. Built by Boeing and owned by Spacecom Ltd. of Israel, Amos 17 will provide high-throughput broadband connectivity and other communications services over Africa, the Middle East and Europe.  (SpaceX Reddit Group: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/cjaawx/amos17_launch_campaign_thread/   will be live streamed on SpaceX’s website: https://www.spacex.com/webcast)

LAUNCH: August 6, 2019 – Ariane 5 • Intelsat 39 & EDRS-C – Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA249, to launch the Intelsat 39 and EDRS-C communications satellites. Built by SSL, the Intelsat 39 satellite will replace Intelsat 902 and provide broadband networking and video distribution services in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, plus broadband connectivity for mobile users in the Indian Ocean region. The EDRS-C satellite, built by OHB System AG, will be the second node in the European Data Relay System, a network developed by the European Space Agency and Airbus Defense and Space providing high-speed laser communications links between low-orbiting satellites and ground stations. EDRS-C also carries a hosted steerable Ka-band communications payload named Hylas 3 for Avanti Communications.

LAUNCH: August 8, 2019 – Atlas 5 • AEHF 5 – A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will launch the fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin, this U.S. military spacecraft will provide highly-secure communications. The rocket will fly in the 551 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing, five solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage.

EVENT: August 9, 2019 (Friday) – 7:00 PM – Space Center Houston – Free Event – “The Future of Spaceflight” Panel discussion featuring NASA Orion Program manager Mark Kirasich, Lockheed Martin VP & Orion program manager Mike Hawes and NASA Gateway Program deputy manager Lara Kearney (https://spacecenter.org/event/thought-leader-series/

EVENT: August 9, 2019 – 7:30 PM Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society presents “Apollo 11 at 50” (Auditorium of the USRA bldg. (3600 Bay Area Blvd. at Middlebrook Dr.) (http://jscas.net)

EVENT: August 10, 2019 – 8PM – Discovery Green – The Houston Astronomical Society will host a star party in the heart of Space City. Volunteers from HAS will be on-hand with telescopes to show off the moon, other planets in the solar system, various deep-sky objects, and maybe even the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. (https://www.discoverygreen.com/1619289)

TEST: August 12, 2019 – Boca Chica, TX – StarHopper 200 meter hop.  (keep an eye on SpaceX reddit group: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/cjzhw0/starhopper_200m_hop_is_net_august_12/)

EVENT: August 13, 2019 – 7PM-9PM – Houston Museum of Natural Science – Space City Weather, What Makes Houston Forecasting Unique by Eric Berger & Matt Lanza (http://store.hmns.org/DateSelection.aspx?item=4419)  Eric Berger is also a space reporter and has some wonderful articles published at https://arstechnica.com/author/ericberger/)

EVENT: August 13-14, 2019 – NASA Cost and Schedule Symposium (registration is Closed, but looks like an interesting professional event around cost/schedule estimation and planning that happens annually that might be good to attend next year).  More information on their website.  https://www.nasa.gov/offices/ocfo/cost_symposium

EVENT: August 16, 2019 – 6PM-9PM – Kaboom Books 3116 Houston Ave) Space Poetry and Wine (http://shenge.us/)

LAUNCH: August – Rockot • Geo-IK 2 – A Russian government Rockot vehicle with a Breeze KM upper stage will launch a GEO-IK 2 spacecraft. The satellite is designed to survey Earth to measure variations in the gravitational field and study other geodetic features of the planet.

LAUNCH: August – Long March 3B • Apstar 6D – A Chinese Long March 3B rocket will launch with the Apstar 6D communications spacecraft for APT Mobile Satcom Ltd., a communications satellite operator based in Hong Kong. Built by the China Academy of Space Technology, Apstar 6D will provide broadband Internet services across the Asia-Pacific region for aviation, maritime and land-based users.

LAUNCH: August 21 – Soyuz – ISS 60S – Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft to the International Space Station on a test flight without a crew on-board. The rocket will fly in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration, and will demonstrate the compatibility of the Soyuz spacecraft with the newer Soyuz-2 rocket variant before approving the launcher for future crewed missions.

EVENT: August 22, 2019 – 11AM-1PM – Ballroom at Bayou Place (500 Texas St.) – Downtown Rotary Club of Houston will host Johnson Space Center (JSC) Director Mark S. Geyer, astronaut Randolph “Komrade” Bresnik, and Apollo Astronaut, and fellow Downtown Rotary Club of Houston member, Walter Cunningham will also be honored. (https://bit.ly/2GIPfhS)

LAUNCH: August 22 – Delta 4 • GPS 3 SV02 – A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket will launch the U.S. Air Force’s second third-generation navigation satellite for the Global Positioning System. The satellite is built by Lockheed Martin. The Air Force previously planned to launch the third GPS 3-series satellite on this mission. The rocket will fly in the Medium+ (4,2) configuration with two solid rocket boosters.

EVENT: August 24 – Boca Chica, TX – Elon Musk Presents an update on the Starship Project (keep an eye on the SpaceX Reddit group for update: https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/  (https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/elon-musk-will-update-the-status-of-starship-development-on-august-24/)

APPLICATION OPENS: August 28, 2019 – NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars – Applications Open for Spring-Summer 2020 – (https://nas.okstate.edu/ncas/)

EVENT: August 31, 2019 – 4:30PM – Space Center Houston – Family Campout – https://www.facebook.com/events/1213869752100113/

EVENT: September 1, 2019 – 7PM – Cafe Express (3800 SW Freeway, Houston, TX) – Fantasy/Sci Fi Book Club – Tau Zero (Poul Anderson) – https://www.meetup.com/houston-fantasy-scifi-bookclub/events/263231622/

EVENT: September 6, 2019 – 6:30 PM – Houston Astronomical Society Monthly Meeting (https://www.astronomyhouston.org/events)

LANDING: September 7, 2019 – Chandrayaan 2 Lands on the moon

EVENT: September 7, 2019 – 3PM – Barbara Bush Library – NSS North Houston Space Society monthly meeting (http://NorthHoustonSpace.org)

EVENTs: October 4-10, 2019 – World Space Week (http://WorldSpaceWeek.org)

DEADLINE: November 12, 2019 – Deadline for Brooke Owens Fellowship (http://www.brookeowensfellowship.org)

EVENT: November 15-16 – Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, TX – New Worlds Conference – (http://earthlightfoundation.org/newworlds/)

EVENT: December 9-12, 2019 – First International Orbital Debris Conference – Sugar Land Marriott Town Square (https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/orbitaldebris2019/)

EVENT: January 19-24, 2020 – Hotel Galvez, 2024 Seawall Boulevard, Galveston, TX – Origins of Life – Challenging the Perceptions of the Requirements for Life on Earth and Other Worlds – Applications for this meeting must be submitted by December 22, 2019. – (https://www.grc.org/origins-of-life-conference/2020/)

EVENT: February 11-13, 2020 – Houston, TX – The Impact of Lunar Dust on Human Exploration (https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lunardust2020/)

EVENT: February 18-21, 2020 – 3rd International Planetary Caves Conference – Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas (https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/3rdcaves2020/)

EVENT: March 16-20, 2020 (The Woodlands, TX) – 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference – https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2020/

EVENT: May 28-31, 2020 – Hilton Dallas-Frisco Hotel & Convention Center – International Space Development Conference (ISDC) 2020 – https://isdc2020.nss.org/

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