SSI News
Long March 2C with YZ-1 upper stage launches three internet satellites for China
At 0013 GMT on 30 December 2023, a Long March 2C/YZ-1 (CZ-2C/YZ-1S) was launched from Jiuquan launch site carrying a suspected set of three broadband internet communications satellites as prototypes for a Chinese internet satellite constellation. The satellites are...
Falcon Heavy is launched with X-37B mini-spaceplane aboard…then a few hours later a Falcon 9 is launched from nearby Cape Canaveral carrying Starlink Group 6-36
After being delayed by weather earlier in the month, a Falcon Heavy rocket (using Block 5 boosters) was finally launched at 0107 GMT on 29 December 2023 from Pad LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA with the seventh mission of the Boeing-built US military...
Soyuz-2-1v launches Russian military satellite from Plesetsk
A Russian military satellite of unknown nature was launched into orbit by a launch of a Soyuz 2-1v small launch vehicle at 0703 GMT on 27 December from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia. The exact nature of the satellite has not yet been disclosed. A single...
Two Chinese launches: Long March 11 launches Shiyan-24C trio while Long March 3B puts two Beidou navsats into orbit
At 2239 GMT on Christmas Day (25 December 2023) a Long March 11 (CZ-11) launched three Shiyan-24C experimental satellites from from a barge launch pad off Guangdong. . A Long March 11 (CZ-11) rocket launched SY24C satellites have been cataloged in a 540 x 553 x 540...
Quartet of Tianmu-1 satellites launched by a Kuaizhou-1A on 25th December and then a second set launched two days later
Four Tianmu-1 satellites (Tianmu-1 11-14) used for meteorological measurement using signals occultation of navigation satellite signals were successfully launched by a Chinese Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) solid fuel rocket at Jiuquan, Inner Mongolia at 0100 GMT on 25 December....
SpaceX launches a pair of Falcon 9 rockets: one for Starlink Group 6-32 and one carrying the SARah 2 and 3 sats
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 from Cape Canaveral, USA at 0533 GMT on 23 December 2023. The launch vehicle was carrying Starlink Group 6-32, a total of 23 second-generation constellation V2 Mini Starlink satellites. The B1058 first stage, on...
Firefly Alpha launch gets to orbit but doesn’t hit the mark
A launch of the Firefly Alpha rocket took place from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, USA, at 1732 GMT on 22 December 2023. The payload carried was the Lockheed Martin Electronically Steerable Antenna Technology Demonstrator satellite called Tantrum....
Shenzhou-17 astronauts make spacewalk
Shenzhou-17 Astronauts Tang Hongbo and Tang Shengjie made a spacewalk from the Chinese Space Station Tiangong. They returned to Tiangong at 1335 GMT on 21 December 2023 after a seven and a half hour spacewalk. The astronauts repaired a Tianhe module solar array...
Soyuz 2-1b launches military satellite from Plesetsk (Updated)
A Soyuz 2-1b rocket was launched from a snow-covered Plesetsk, Northern Russia, USA on 0848 GMT on 21 December 2023. The satellite carried was military in nature. It is thought to be a Bars-M cartography satellite. The satellite codenamed Cosmos 2574 (Kosmos-2574)...
Analysis: slow advances on both sides in Ukraine as Storm Shadow cruise missiles strike Russian-held space comms centre in Crimea
While the Soviet Union became famous during the 1960s and 1970s for running space event tracking ships, it also had ground based deep space communications facilities. One of these, along with its dish array, is located in Vitino, in the Saky district of...
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