March 8, 2020

DirecTV's Days are Numbered (Source: USA Today)
Start saying goodbye to DirecTV. It may not be today or tomorrow, but it could be soon. DirecTV-owner AT&T this week admitted that it is no longer actively marketing the service, which has seen subscribers fall to 16 million from 20 million when the company purchased it for $49 billion in 2015. (3/7)

SpaceX Launches the Last Flight of its Original Dragon Cargo Capsule (Source: The Verge)
SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket on the company’s 20th cargo mission to the International Space Station, sending more than 4,500 pounds of supplies and science experiments to the three crew members living in orbit. Following takeoff, SpaceX then landed its Falcon 9 on a landing pad in Florida — the 50th overall rocket landing for the company. (3/7)

Olympic Orbiter: 'Gundam Satellite' Hitches Ride to ISS to Promote 2020 Games (Source: Japan Times)
A microsatellite carrying model robots from the popular science fiction anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” was successfully launched to promote the Olympics, organizers said Saturday. The so-called G-Satellite, which contains two figurines from the animated series, hitched a ride to the International Space Station on Friday aboard a SpaceX/Dragon cargo flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It will reach the ISS on Monday at 8 p.m. Japan time. (3/7)

ISRO's Space-Age Women: Shooting for the Moon (Source: Forbes)
Muthayya Vanitha and Ritu Karidhal Srivastava shot to fame last year as they became role models for youngsters in India—and girls in particular—aspiring to careers in science and technology, with a focus on space sciences. Vanitha was named project director of Isro’s Chandrayaan-2 mission, 18 months before the July 2019 launch, while Srivastava was mission director for the same project. (3/7)

Xplore Forges Partnerships for Spacecraft Propulsion System and In-Space Refueling (Source: GeekWire)
Seattle-based Xplore has selected two new technologies for propelling and refueling its Xcraft spacecraft as it makes its way to the moon and beyond. Xplore is designing Xcraft to serve as a “space as a service” platform for payloads heading beyond Earth orbit, to the moon, Mars, Venus and other deep-space destinations. Founded by veteran investors Jeff and Lisa Rich, the company aims to have its first mission to the moon launched as early as next year. (3/6)