SSI News
Gold rush for lunar comms attracts Lockheed Martin which sets up subsidiary to operate satellite relay pair
While landings on the Moon have been done before and are now regarded as a known technology, something not previously catered for is communications to the lunar far side. For example, the Apollo and Surveyor lunar landing programmes all touched down on the Earth...
Suspected maritime surveillance satellite Yaogan 34-04 sat launched by China
A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, at 0627 GMT on 31 March. The rocket carried Yaogan 34-04 into a 63 degree, low Earth orbit. Both the Long March 4C rocket and its payload for this mission are built by SAST (Shanghai...
China launches four SAR satellites for commercial EO constellation
At 1050 GMT on 30 March a Long March 2D/2 (CZ-2D/2) rocket lifted-off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, carrying four satellites. The satellites it carried were reportedly SAR microsatellites built for a company identified as Piesat or Aerospace Hongtu....
SpaceX launches next batch of Starlink satellites: Group 5-10
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, USA at 2101 GMT on 29 March. The vehicle carried a payload of 56 Starlink Group 5-10 satellites. All of the satellites onboard were deployed around 65 minutes after lift off, as planned. While the second...
Soyuz 2-1v single stack rocket launches fourth EO-MKA sat
At 1957 GMT on 29 March 2023, a Russian Soyuz-2-1v launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia carrying a military satellite codenamed Cosmos 2568 (Kosmos 2568). The satellite is believed to be the fourth in the series of EO-MKA (EMKA)...
Isar Aerospace raises US$165 million as it readies for Spectrum maiden launch
German satellite launch company Isar Aerospace has raised US$165 million in a Series C round. The new injection of funds comes at a a fortuitous time for the startup, as it prepares for the inaugural flight of its launch vehicle Spectrum in the second half of 2023....
Space Insurance: Premium rates remain stable for now but underwriter sentiment turns against Arianespace
Twice a year, Seradata takes a small survey of space underwriters to find out what typical premium rates are for rocket launches, and typical GEO and SSO (Sun-synchronous orbit) satellites (the results are available in a report on the documents section of the Seradata...
Damaged Soyuz MS-22 returns to Earth without its crew aboard
The Roscosmos Soyuz MS-22/ISS-68S spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) Rassvet module at 0957 GMT on 28 March in preparation for an automated landing in Kazakhstan. The uncrewed craft performed a re-entry burn 55 minutes after undocking and...
Israel makes Shavit-2 launch of new Ofeq-13 satellite – believed to be for radar reconnaissance
Israel has launched a Shavit-2 launch vehicle from the Palmachim launch site in Israel at circa 2110 GMT on 28 March. The launch was towards the West, across the Mediterranean, putting the spacecraft, believed be an IAI-built Tecsar-class Synthetic Aperture Radar...
Seven IRIDE SAR and optical satellites order goes to Thales Alenia Space
European space manufacturer Thales Alenia Space has been awarded a contract to build seven satellites for the Italian IRIDE constellation. Six of the 170 kg satellites will be equipped with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that will be able to image the ground through...
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