NASA will hold a pre-launch news conference on November 20, 2020 at 5:00 pm ET for the launch of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which is scheduled for launch the next day.  Other briefings also are scheduled (see separate calendar entries). Participants are: ·      Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters ·      Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director-general, ESA …

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Update, November 13:  The launch from VAFB is scheduled for 12:17 pm ET (9:17 am Pacific Time, local at the launch site).  NASA TV coverage begins at 11:45 am ET. Update, November 3:  Lueders tweeted that November 21 is the new launch date.  The launch time was not specified. Update: We now are targeting Saturday, …

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The German Institute of Navigation has organized the European Navigation Conference 2020 (ENC 2020) for November 23-24, 2020.  It will take place virtually.  Note that times on the agenda are in Central European Time (CET).  Subtract 6 hours for Eastern Standard Time.  The meeting begins at 13:00 CET both days, which is 7:00 am EST. …

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The Department of Commerce's Office of Space Commerce (OSC) will hold an "Industry Day" to obtain input regarding the Open Architecture Data Repository (OSDR) it is creating for Space Situational Awareness/Space Traffic Management (SSA/STM) in response to President Trump's Space Policy Directive-3. Meetings will be held on two days, November 23 -- the "West Coast …

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McGill University's Institute of Air and Space Law, in partnership with Spectrum Space Security, will hold a four-day Strategic Space Law Course from November 23-26, 2020.  It will take place virtually. More information is on the event's website.  

Update, November 23, 8:10 am ET:  The European Space Agency, which is providing tracking support, says the launch is at 21:35 CET tonight, which is 3:35 pm EST.  China has not indicated if it will livestream the launch.   Original Entry: China says only that it plans to launch its long-awaited Chang'e-5 lunar sample return …

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Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Soichi Noguchi, who arrived at the International Space Station  aboard Crew-1 a week ago, will hold a press conference with Japanese reporters on November 24, 2020 at 6:10 am ET.  The event will be broadcast on NASA TV with English interpretation.

The South Australian Space Industry Centre (SASIC) will hold the 10th Australian Space Forum on November 25, 2020.  The event was planned to take place at the Adelaide Convention Center and online, but the COVID situation in Australia has forced the entire event to be virtual. More information is on the event's website. The agenda …

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The Canadian Space Society will hold its annual summit virtually from November 24-27, 2020.  The theme this year is "To Lunar and Beyond." More information is on the event's website.  The agenda was not posted as of November 22, however (at least we couldn't spot one).

Space4Impact will hold a kick-off event on November 25-26, 2020.  November 25 is open to the public.  November 26 is by invitation only.  It will take place virtually. Note that times on the agenda are in Central European Time (CET).  Subtract 6 hours for Eastern Standard Time. More information is on the event's website.

The International Astronautical Federation (IAF), as part of its Global Networking Forum (GNF) Space Conversation series, will hold  a webinar on November 25, 2020 from 14:00-15:00 Central European Time (8:00-9:00 am EST) on "Bridging the Space Divide for Developing Countries and Emerging Communities." More information is on the event's website.

November 26, 2020 is a federal holiday, Thanksgiving.  Government offices and many businesses will be closed.

Update, November 30: 9:30 am ET:  @CosmicPenguin tweeted a thread showing times for the Chang'e-5 events based on an image of the screen in mission control that he saw on Chinese social media.  It puts the landing on December 1 at 15:13 UTC, which would be December 1, 10:13 EST.  Here is one of his …

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The Committee on Earth Sciences and Applications from Space (CESAS) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will meet virtually November 30-December 1, 2020. Some sessions are open and some are closed.  Open sessions on November 30 are 1:00-3:45 pm ET.  The one open session on December 1 is at 11:30 am ET. …

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Update, Nov. 27: The agenda is now posted.   Original Entry: NASA's Planetary Science Advisory Committee will meet virtually on November 30, 2020 from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm ET. More information, including how the public can listen to the meeting, is in the Federal Register announcement, which is reproduced below. UMMARY: In accordance with …

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Update, November 30:  The agenda has finally been posted. Update, November 27: the revised Federal Register notice says the meeting on December 1 is 1:00-5:00 pm ET and on December 2 is 1:00-5:15 pm ET.  (The agenda still is not posted on the committee's website.) SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as …

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The European Space Agency (ESA) will sign an 86 million Euro contract with Clearspace SA to purchase services to remove a piece of space debris from orbit, specifically a Vespa payload adapter, in 2025. ESA will hold a media roundtable to discuss the mission on December 1, 2020 from 13:30-14:30 Central European Time (7:30-8:30 am …

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The University of Maryland's Center for Orbital Debris Education and Research (CODER) and the Secure World Foundation (SWF) will hold the 2020 CODER conference virtually because of the pandemic.  It will take place online fro December 1-3, 2020. More information is on the event's website.

The Aerospace Corporation, RAND Project Air Force, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, and the MITRE Corporation will hold the 6th Annual West Coast Aerospace Forum virtually this year because of the pandemic. It will take place December 1-3, 2020 from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm ET …

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Update, November 25:  This is one of three calendar entries we have for this conference, which spans three weeks, but not weekends:  December 1-4, December 7-11, and December 14-17.   See the schedule for more information. Update, September 17:  The meeting now will take place entirely virtually and spans the December 1-17 time frame.  Organizers say: …

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