SSI News
Fifth Feng Yun-3 meteorological satellite launched by China
At 2328 GMT on 4 July, a Long March 4C (CZ-4C) rocket was successfully launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, China. The vehicle was carrying the Feng Yun 3E satellite to a LEO sun synchronous orbit to provide meteorological data. Phil Hylands contributed...
SpaceX launches large rideshare mission
SpaceX launched its Transporter-2 rideshare mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 1931 GMT, 30 June. It carried 88 payloads into low Earth orbit using a Falcon 9 rocket with a first stage that had previously been used...
Branson & Bezos race to space
Virgin Galactic announced at the beginning of July that its founder Richard Branson will be a passenger on the next flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle, VSS Unity. Designated ‘Unity 22’, the mission is due to launch on 11 July from its base at...
China launches a crop of five satellites into LEO
At 0251 GMT on 3 July a Long March 2D (CZ-2D) rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, China carrying five satellites into LEO. The larger payloads were four Earth observation (EO) satellites built by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. for the...
Chinese taikonauts complete first CSS spacewalk
Taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo opened the Tianhe 1 hatch on 4 July at 0011 GMT. Boming exited the Chinese space station airlock first to attach a foot restraint and platform to the end of the station's 10 metre robotic arm. He then mounted the arm. Mission...
OneWeb completes its “Five to 50” milestone with fourth launch this year
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz 2-1B Fregat vehicle at 1248 GMT 1 July from Vostochny Cosmodrome in Eastern Russia. The vehicle was carrying 36 OneWeb satellites bringing its number of in-orbit units to 254. The satellites were deployed in to a LEO, near polar...
Seradata Space Conference 2021 Review: Space Debris risk & cyber extortion dominate threats; reprogramming payloads & reusing satellites are the opportunities
Seradata hosted its biennial space insurance conference virtually this year with over 170 attendees during the afternoons of 23 and 24 June. It was sponsored by ExoAnalytic, Piiq Risk Partners, Aon ISB, and Russell Group. The conference was ably chaired by Morten...
Virgin Orbit launches seven CubeSats into LEO for military and commercial customers
Virgin Orbit has successfully launched a LauncherOne rocket its the carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl, at 1447 GMT on 30 June. The "Tubular Bells: Part One" mission began with the carrier aircraft taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port, California, USA at 1350 GMT....
Bharti Global to increase OneWeb investment by US$500 million, completing financing for constellation
Bharti Global, based in India, intends to increase its investment in LEO constellation operator OneWeb by a further US$500 million, making it the biggest shareholder. The announcement, made on 29 June, details that Bharti has decided to exercise a call option it had...
Russia launches Progress MS-17 resupply freighter to the ISS
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz 2-1A rocket carrying the Progress MS-17 re-supply vessel in to LEO at 2327 GMT on 29 June. The mission lifted-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan towards the ISS and was loaded with 2,439 kg of water, fuel, food, air,...
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