SSI News

South Korean satellite builder announces new high-resolution satellite project
South Korean manufacturer Satrec Initiative (SI) intends to build a high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) satellite capable of 30 cm imagery. The announcement made on 18 August outlines its plans for the SPACEEYE-T project. The company intends this satellite to be a...

China launches set of two new cartography satellites
China successfully launched the Tianhui 2-02-A and B satellites on a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) vehicle from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, China, at 2232 GMT on 18 August. The satellites were deployed into a sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit of approximately 500 km x...

Varda Space Industries orders three Photon buses from Rocket Lab (Updated)
Varda Space Industries a newspace company pioneering commercial microgravity manufacturing has contracted with Rocket Lab for three of its Photon satellites. The deal announced on 11 August will see the Photon satellites act as platforms for Varda's hardware,...

Blue Origin sues NASA after losing contract for Human Landing System (Updated)
Blue Origin’s disagreement with NASA over its failure to win a contract for the Human Landing System (HLS) finally reached its apogee on 13 August when the company filed a suit in the US Court of Federal Claims. The nub of the company’s claim is that NASA failed to...

SpaceX secures “go-to-launch provider” status from Planet and another lunar lander mission
Planet, the operator of an LEO CubeSat constellation numbering over 200 units, has designated SpaceX as its “go-to-launch provider” until the end of 2025. The announcement, made on 5 August, was light on specifics but did highlight SpaceX’s reliable and low-cost...

Arianespace conducts second Vega launch of 2021 carrying another new Pleiades Neo satellite
A Vega rocket lifted-off from the European Spaceport, French Guiana, carrying the Pleiades Neo 4 reconnaissance satellite plus four small co-payloads at 0147 GMT on 17 August. The payloads were carried to sun-synchronous low Earth orbit and were sequentially deployed...

Astra Space receives launch contracts from USSF and Spire and looks ahead to next mission
During August aspiring launch provider Astra Space has announced two new launch contracts and its next orbital attempt later in the month. On 5 August it was awarded a dual contract to conduct two launches carrying United States Space Force (USSF) technology...

ISRO loses GEO imaging sat during launch after GSLV suffers an upper stage anomaly
In what was just the second Indian launch of the year, following on from a PSLV mission in February, a GSLV 2 rocket has suffered a launch failure destroying its satellite payload. The rocket lifted-off at 0013 GMT on 12 August from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre,...

When it comes to spaceflight “wings” are not quite what they used to be (Updated)
The recent decision by the FAA not to award "astronaut wings" to suborbital space tourist "passengers" of Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic commercial astronaut carrying operations has caused controversy, not least because many would-be astronauts were very attracted by...

Cygnus heads for ISS while Starliner remains grounded
Northrop Grumman launched a Cygnus resupply spacecraft on one of its Antares launch vehicles from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at the Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, on 10 August. It was the company’s 16th cargo resupply mission under NASA contract and will...
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