SSI News
First OneWeb launch of 2021 carried out as planned to make up for lost time
Arianespace, through its Russian joint venture Starsem, has launched a Soyuz 2-1b/Fregat vehicle carrying 36 OneWeb satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO). The mission lifted off at 0247 GMT on 25 March 2021 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Siberia, Russia, and brings...
SpaceX carries out fourth Starlink mission of March and orbits 60 more satellites
At 0828 GMT on 24 March SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 vehicle carrying 60 STARLINK satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, USA. The Launch vehicle first-stage successfully landed on the drone barge Of Course I Still Love You at 0836 GMT...
Rocket Lab Electron launches six satellites and then turns upper stage into a seventh
On a launch dubbed "They go up so fast" Rocket Lab successfully launched one of its Electron launch vehicles at 2230 GMT on 22 March from Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand. The satellites carried on the launch were Blacksky Global-9, Centauri III, Gunsmoke-J 1, Myriota 7,...
Eutelsat order satellite from Airbus to ensure continuity of service from 36 East
Eutelsat has announced (22 March) an order for a new GEO satellite, Eutelsat 36D, from Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS). This satellite is intended to replace and provide service continuity for Eutelsat 36B located at 36 degrees East. Eutelsat considers this one...
Soyuz 2-1a/Fregat launches 38 satellites including CAS500-1 remote sensing sat and ELSA-d debris removal technology mission
After a technical delay two days previously, a Soyuz 2-1a/Fregat rocket lifted off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan, at 0607 GMT on 22 March. The rocket carried the white and blue livery of the launch provider, GK Launch Services. While some...
SLS saves itself with successful full-duration engine firing but its career may still be short
NASA’s much delayed and very expensive SLS heavy-lift launch vehicle (HLV) has coming under renewed criticism as SpaceX’s partly reusable commercial HLV has advanced into its stage testing programme (the main super-booster stage is nearly constructed while the...
Retired NOAA 17 satellite breaks up in orbit creating debris hazard then Yunhai 1-02 does the same
At 0711 GMT on 10 March 2021, the retired NOAA 17 weather satellite broke up in orbit. So far 16 pieces of debris have been tracked. There is no indication that this break up was caused by a collision. Scientists are concerned that the debris may present a hazard to...
Aspiring launch provider Relativity Space awarded contract to launch military STP payload
Relativity Space, an American company developing "3-D printed" rockets, has been given a contract by the US military to launch an STP (Space Test Program) payload in 2023. Its upcoming rocket, named Terran-1, is expected to conduct its maiden flight later this year.
On a sadder note: Heroic SRB engineer Allan McDonald dies at 83, as does Apollo 13 flight director Glynn Lunney, boxer “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, F1 commentator Murray Walker, racing driver Sabine Schmitz, & actors Yaphet Kotto and George Segal
Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) engineer and the man who refused to be cowed by his management or NASA, Allan McDonald, has died at the age of 83. McDonald was the morally courageous engineer who refused to sign off on the SRBs as safe before the Space...
Third Starlink launch in March puts another 60 sats into orbit and sets new rocket re-use record
At 1001 GMT on 14 March a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida carrying 60 STARLINK satellites. This was the third such launch this month, with a fourth mission planned for 21 March. The satellites were dispensed into a sub-300 km deployment...
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