On July 28, 2016 an informal meeting of the Chairman and the Secretary of the FIP Section of Astrophilately took place in Vienna, Austria.

Jaromir Matejka, Secretary and Igor Rodin, Chairman discussed different questions concerning the preparation for the Delegates Conference of the FIP Section for Astrophilately. The Conference is planned to be held in the frames of PHILATAIPEI 2016 World Stamp Exhibition. The Conference will take place at the World Trade Center in Taipei, Exhibition Hall 1, Jury Room, on Tuesday, the 25th of October 2016, at 08:30 a.m. Igor Rodin and Jaromir Matejka summed up the results of mailing the invitations to the Conference. The information about the convocation of the Astro Delegates Conference were sent by e-mail to: FIP Section ... Read more »

The Russian "Soyuz TMA-19M” delivered to Earth several letters.

This letter was written by Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and addressed to Sergey Rodin. Aboard the International Space Station the letter was marked with the following seals: the “Russian Post. Board of ISS. Russian Segment” round board post mark and the “Russian Segment of International Space Station” board souvenir seal both dated June 18, 2016, the day when the Russian Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft undocked from the ISS, as well as with the “ISS” octagonal board souvenir seal. On June 22 the letter was sent by registered mail from Russian cosmonaut training center to the addressee.

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On July 28, 2016 at 12:37 UTC the “Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the NROL-61 classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. The NROL (National Reconnaissance Office Launch) abbreviation is used to identify classified satellites operated by the United States National Reconnaissance Office.

On July 20, 2016 at 14:03 UTC the private U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft, the "Dragon” SpX-9 (CRS-9 flight), was successfully docked to the International Space Station. The linkup operation was carried out with the help of the giant 17-meter Canadarm. The capture with Canadarm-2 was performed by American astronaut Jeffrey Williams at 10:56 UTC. The Dragon spacecraft was maneuvered into position and attached to a berthing port on the space station's Harmony module.

On July 19, 2016 at 00:20 UTC the Russian “Progress MS-03” unmanned supply spacecraft docked to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was docked to the Russian “Pirs” module. The spacecraft delivered about 2500 kilograms of cargo for the six-member ISS crew.

On July 18, 2016 at 04:45 UTC the "Falcon 9” rocket-carrier was launched from the Cape Canaveral US Air Force Station in Florida. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. US private company SpaceX launched its "Dragon” (CRS-9 flight) unmanned spacecraft on a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. It is the 10th successful flight of a “Dragon” spacecraft and the 9th successful flight of a “Dragon” to the ISS.

On July 16, 2016 at 21:41 UTC (on July 17, 2016 at 00:41 Moscow time) the “Progress MS-03” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Soyuz-U” rocket-carrier.