SSI News

Raytheon announces intention to buy smallsat manufacturer Blue Canyon Technologies
Raytheon Technologies, a major American aerospace and defence manufacturer anounced on 10 November 2020 its intention to acquire the entirety of Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT). BCT is a leader in the small satellite industry providing whole satellite or specific...

Analysis: You’re fired! Joe Biden beats Donald Trump in US Presidential Election…but what does this mean for Space?
After a record-breaking turnout and tense counts in swing states, Democrat challenger Joe Biden beat Republican incumbent President Donald Trump in the US Presidential election. Although more votes were cast for Trump than in 2016, he was beaten by Biden both in the...

PSLV-DL launches EOS-01 radar satellite for India plus nine other satellites
An Indian PSLV-DL rocket was launched at 0941 GMT on 7 November 2020 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharokota, India. Aboard was the main payload, the EOS-01 radar satellite (aka RISAT-2 BR2) for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The secondary...

Ceres-1 rocket (aka Gushenxing-1) launches small Tianqi-11 comsat
A Chinese rocket at first sight beat the odds when it launched successfully on its maiden flight (maiden launches have failure rates of circa 50 per cent). The launch of the Ceres-1 (Gushenxing-1) rocket carried the Tianqi-11 communications satellite from the Jiuquan...

Long March 6 rocket launches ten NuSat satellites as part of Adeph-1 constellation plus three other sats (Corrected)
The Argentina's Adelph-1 constellation gained ten new NuSat Earth observation spacecraft (NuSats 9 - 18) in orbit when they were launched by a Chinese Long March 6 (CZ-6) from the Tiayuan launch site at 0319 GMT on 6 November 2020. The 37.5 kg spacecraft were built by...

Falcon 9 launches GPS III-4 navsat for US military (and civilian users)
After a series of launch delays including an engine induced launch abort in October, the GPS III-4 (aka GPS III SV04) navigation satellite was launched successfully at 2324 GMT on 5 November by a Space X Falcon 9 from SLC-40 launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force...

Virgin Orbit plans to take stake in struggling Sky and Space Global
Announced on 28 October, are the plans of upcoming small launch provider Virgin Orbit to purchase part of Sky and Space Global (SAS). SAS intends to orbit a CubeSat constellation providing IoT services. However, following the launch of their three demonstration units...

On a sadder note: James Bond actor Sir Sean Connery passes away at the age of 90
"Shurely shum mishtake Mish Moneypenny," as Sir Sean Connery might have said is his oft-imitated lispy Scottish accent, but we are sad to report that the famous James Bond actor has died at the age of 90. Sean Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. and started his...

Electron launches CE-Sat-2B and nine “Super Dove” satellites as part of Flock-4e’ batch
A Rocket Lab Electron launch vehicle launched the CE-Sat-2B earth observation satellite for the Japanese Canon Electronics firm. The launch also carried nine of Planet's Flock-4e' earth observation cubesats into orbit. The launch took place from the Mahia Peninsula...

LeoStella to build reprioritised NorthStar E&S in-orbit SSA constellation
European satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space (TAS) has received a construction contract from NorthStar Earth and Space, of Canada. The contract entails the construction of a 12-unit in-orbit, optical SSA fleet. LeoStella, an American joint venture between TAS...
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