SSI News
North Korean nuclear weapon test hints at ballistic missile warhead and is likely to spur ABM development in region
South Korean seismographic readings have indicated that North Korea has conducted its third nuclear weapons test. The underground test of a fission class weapon is estimated to be equivalent of 6-7kT (6000-7000 tons of TNT). Though this explosive power remains only a third of the bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2, it does respresent and increase over previous tests in 2006 and 2009 which were 1 and 4.7kT respectively.
Progress M-018M launched on re-supply mission
Progress M-018M was launched at 1441 GMT today from Baikonur in Kazakhstan to conduct a re-supply mission to the International Space Station. The craft will follow the rapid rendezvous flight profile in order for it to dock around six hours after launch. This profile...
Video of Progress M-016M leaving the International Space Station
A video is now available of the unmanned cargo spacecraft Progress M-016M successfully undocking and leaving the International Space Station’s Pirs module. The undocking took place at 1315 GMT on 9 February. Later that day the spacecraft was re-entered over the South Pacific at 1619 GMT with remaining debris impacting at 1715 GMT.
Arianespace gets additional Eutelsat four-launch contract
The European satellite operator Eutelsat Communications and Arianespace signed a long-term multiple launch services covering up to four launches in the 2016 and 2017 timeframe to carry yet-to-be disclosed spacecraft. , The new contract is in addition to the contract signed in July 2012 between Eutelsat and Arianespace for the 2014 and 2015 timeframe, covering one launch and an option for a further launch.
Progress M-016M freighter undocks from ISS
The Progress M-016M resupply vessel undocked from the Pirs module of the International Space Station at 1315 GMT on Saturday 9 February and re-entered Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean where most, if not all, of the craft will have burned up, The undocking of...
On a lighter note: rocket plane pilots are no longer expendable
While Reaction Engines’ rocket designer Alan Bond still hopes to see his airbreathing-rocket powered Skylon space plane design fly one day and may even ride in it inside its passenger cabin himself when it does so, he told the audience at the European AstroFest astronomy conference in London in February, that Skylon would not actually have a pilot, using on board systems and command data links to control the craft instead.
Good news for space cadets of all ages: Thunderbirds is back
For those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s some good news was revealed by Craig Hoyle on Flightglobal’s Dew Line blog – Click Here. The Thunderbirds science fiction TV series is to return! F-A-B! The series and those other puppet and live action series from the Gerry Anderson’s Century 21 stable (Fireball XL5, UFO and Space 1999) have inspired many a space engineer of today. Hyperbola’s favourite episode was, of course, using Thunderbird 3 to rescue the negligent spacewalker who was floating away to oblivion.
Ariane 5 ECA successfully launches Amazonas 3 and Azersat 1 comsats
Arianespace’s Ariane 5 rocket series had another successful flight (its 54th in a row) when an Ariane 5 ECA successfully launched two communications satellites. Amazonas 3 and Azersat 1 at 2136GMT on 7 February from the Kourou launch site in French Guiana. Built by Orbiral Sciences Corporation and using its Star 2.4c bus design, the 3275kg Azersat 1 is a communications satellite for the Government of Azerbaijan. Amazonas 3 was built by Space Systems Loral for Hispasat and uses a version of the LS-1300 bus design. The 6265kg commercial communications spacecraft will provide telecommunications services to the Americas. Arianespace notes that the flight carried the largest ever payload to date by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
Truth is stranger than fiction: after horsemeat scandal will Soylent Green science fiction plot be next? (Updated)
While the disclosure by the first taikonaut (Chinese astronaut) Yang Liwei that he had eaten dog while on China’s first manned orbital spaceflight mission Shenzhou 5 in 2003, made some dog lovers in the West wince, many in the Anglo-Saxon culture hold a similar revulsion for the eating of horsemeat. Thus, in the worse food scandal since the “mad-cow prion” contamination of British beef during the late 1980s, there has been collective shock at the disclosure that minced horsemeat is now in the British (and European) food supply. The scandal came to light as DNA tests found that some “minced beef” products had a 100%.horsemeat content leading some to worry if there may now be worse to come.
Globalstar completes second generation constellation with Soyuz launch (Corrected)
A Soyuz 2-1a Fregat launch vehicle successfully launched seven Globalstar second generation spacecraft on 6 February from the Baikonur launch site, near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan. The launch into low Earth orbit took place at 1604 GMT and about 100 minutes after lift off the last four of the six spacecraft aboard were successfully deployed. The completion of the 24 satellite second gereration constellation on four Soyuz launches will mean that complete and uninterupted voice communications can again be offered by the Globalstar mobile communications service. The orignal service was disrupted after S-band antenna faults on the first generation series of satellites.
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