SSI News
Space Tourism at last?
It looks as if the floodgates might be about to open in the space tourism market following years of frustratingly slow progress. On 13 May, space tourism company Space Adventures announced that two civilians will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on the...
SpaceX launches Starlink mission with reduced complement to accommodate two rideshares
At 2254 GMT on 15 May SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 vehicle carrying 52 Starlink satellites and two rideshare payloads: Capella-06 and Tyvak 0130. The mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The B1058 first-stage successfully landed on the...
Rocket Lab Electron rocket suffers launch failure losing two BlackSky satellites
An Electron rocket built by Rocket Lab suffered a failure during a launch that took place at 1111 GMT on 15 May from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The anomaly occurred post ignition of the second-stage. Seconds after ignition, the single Rutherford engine shut down...
Virgin Orbit signed to provide two launches for British newspace company Arqit Limited
On 12 May Virgin Orbit announced that it had been selected by Arqit Limited to launch its first two satellites. The contract covers two launches starting in 2023. Arqit Limited is a British, newspace company which has recently exited "stealth mode" and developed a...
SpaceX launches Starlink mission and achieves first 10th stage re-use
At 0642 GMT on 9 May 2021 SpaceX conducted its second Starlink launch of the month. This mission lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and carried 60 Starlink satellites into LEO. Importantly, this mission was the first to pass the 10th re-use milestone for a...
China launches a fresh Yaogan 30 satellite triplet believed to have an SIGINT role
On 6 May at 1811 GMT, China successfully launched a Long March 2C (CZ-2C) vehicle from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China. The primary payload on the mission was the Yaogan 30-8-A, B, C triplet, these were joined by Tianqi-12 which also hitched a ride to LEO....
Blue Origin to auction seat on first crewed mission
Budding space tourism company Blue Origin has announced that, following a long development programme, it will conduct its first crewed New Shepard flight on 20 July. The announcement, on 5 May 2021, was timed to mark the 60th anniversary of the launch - on 5 May 1961...
SpaceX Starship makes successful landing
Following four failed attempts to land previous versions of the Starship launch vehicle, SpaceX finally succeeded in landing its latest prototype, SN15, on 5 May after a six-minute test flight. As the dust cleared from the landing pad at the Boca Chica facility in...
SpaceX launches first Starlink mission of May placing 60 satellites into orbit
At 1901 GMT on 4 May 2021 SpaceX successfully launched another set of 60 Starlink satellites. The mission utilised a Falcon 9 vehicle from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, USA. The satellites were deployed into their deployment orbit in LEO 1 hour 4 minutes after...
Crew Dragon Resilience returns to Earth
After a record-breaking 167 days docked on the International Space Station (ISS), the reusable Crew Dragon Resilience undocked from the Harmony Zenith docking port at 0035 GMT on 2 May. Commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Soichi Noguchi...
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