SSI News
Spaceship prototype SN8 flies well…well right up until the explosive crash landing
In what most independent observers judged to be a successful test flight (well, for most of it), the Starship prototype SN8 upper stage was launched from Boca Chica in Texas on 9 December. The reusable craft lifted itself off the pad on its new raptor engines and then...
Hayabusa-2 makes triumphant return to Earth
The Japanese Hayabusa-2 mission gave JAXA a laudable success when it returned to Earth with its asteroid samples safely on board the return capsule on 5 December. Having made trajectory corrections, the Hayabusa-2 spacecraft entered the Earth’s gravitational field at...
China launches Gaofen 14 satellite…but mystery surrounds the use of powerful Long March 3B to do it
China successfully launched a Long March 3B (CZ-3B) vehicle carrying the Gaofen 14 Earth imaging satellite into a Sun-synchronous low Earth orbit at 0358 GMT on 6 December 2020. The launch took place from the LC3 launch complex at the Xichang Satellite Launch...
New Cargo Dragon design is launched by Falcon 9 to ISS carrying commercial airlock for NanoRacks (Updated)
Following a one-day delay due to weather at 1617 GMT on 6 December a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This launch was carrying the first of a new-generation SpaceX Dragon Cargo capsules to the ISS. It also marked the beginning of...
ESA orders ROSE-L spacecraft from Thales Alenia Space with Airbus DS building the radar
ESA and Thales Alenia Space signed a €482 million (US$586 million) contract to develop the Radar Observation System for Europe in L-band (ROSE-L) environmental monitoring spacecraft – as part of Europe’s Copernicus programme. ROSE-L is planned for launch in 2028. ...
NASA commissions firms to get lunar samples…for very little money
While it plans to get its own lunar samples via its Artemis human lunar programme, in the meantime NASA has selected four companies to collect some and transfer ownership of these samples to the agency. The companies selected are: Lunar Outpost of Golden, Colorado;...
Momentus gets order for Ardoride ride to Moon
Momentus, a firm building a new concept in inter-orbital transportation, has signed a deal with Canadensys Aerospace Corporation to launch one of its payloads to low lunar orbit (LLO) using the Momentus "Ardoride" space delivery spacecraft. The spacecraft being...
ESA awards first Earth observation Scout-class mission to GomSpace and RAL Space
The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded the first of its "Scout" missions which aim to use small sats to prove scientific concepts for the benefit of its Earth Observation Programme. This mission is known as Earth System Processes Monitored in the Atmosphere by a...
ClearSpace SA receives ESA contract to develop its first debris removal mission
On 26 November a team led by ClearSpace SA has been awarded an satellite development contract, valued at EUR€86m (US$102.4m). This follows winning the competition in December 2019 to prepare the final proposal for a debris removal mission. ESA is sponsoring this...
Three Gonets-M satellites are launched on a Soyuz – plus a small nanosat
At 0114 GMT on 3 December 2020 a Russian Soyuz 2-1b/Fregat launch vehicle was launched from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia. The three main payloads were Gonets-M store forward communications satellites. There was one other satellite aboard - a small...
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