SSI News
Long March 4B rocket puts Chinese Gaofen 11-04 imaging satellite into orbit
A Long March 4B (CZ-4B) launch vehicle was launched at 0737 GMT on 27 December from Taiyuan in China. It carried the Gaofen 11-04 high resolution imaging satellite into orbit. The spacecraft is believed to be a military reconnaissance satellite. The spacecraft is...
Astronauts successfully install fourth iROSA solar array on ISS
NASA astronauts Josh Cassada and Frank Rubio competed their mission to install the fourth of six roll-out solar array panels during US EVA-83. The ISS Quest airlock was depressurised at 1311 GMT and the hatch was opened at 1319 GMT to begin the spacewalk on 22...
NASA selects SpaceX to launch second Sentinel-6 mission in 2025
NASA has returned to Space X to launch the second Sentinel-6 satellite. In a contract announced on 20 December SpaceX will launch Sentinel-6B/Jason-CS B satellite in November 2025 using a Falcon 9 rocket. This contract is valued at US$94 million. The mission will...
Vega-C rocket fails on second flight losing two insured Pleiades-Neo satellites (Updated)
While maiden flights of new rockets are known to be risky, with a failure rate of around 40 per cent according to the Seradata SpaceTrak database, second flights are considerably less so. Nevertheless, they still have a failure rate of around 19-20 per cent. And so it...
Maxar Technologies sold for US$6.4 billion to private equity firm
Satellite manufacturer and operator Maxar Technologies has been acquired by global private equity investor group Advent International in a US$6.4 billion deal. The all-cash transaction was announced on 16 December. US-based Advent, which had US$89 billion in assets...
L3Harris Technologies to snap up Aerojet Rocketdyne in US$4.7 billion deal
L3Harris Technologies plans to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for US$4.7 billion. Based in California, Aerojet Rocketdyne manufactures rocket engines and propulsion systems for the defence and space industries, including the RS-25 engines for NASA’s Space Launch System...
SpaceX gallops into final furlong of year with two more Falcon 9 launches: one launching Starlinks comsats and one for competitor O3B
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 2248 GMT on 16 December 2022. The vehicle was carrying O3b mPOWER 1 & 2, a pair of 1,200 kg Boeing 702X bus communications satellites, on their way to medium Earth...
Freshly minted Kongsberg NanoAvionics receives CubeSat orders from two French customers
Lithuanian smallsat manufacturer NanoAvionics - now known as Kongsberg NanoAvionics - has been awarded satellite contracts from two French companies. ONERA On 30 November 2022 ONERA ordered two CubeSats from Kongsberg NanoAvionics, the first 8U and the other 6U. These...
China launches a technology test satellite, Shiyan 21
At 0617 GMT on 16 December a Long March 11 (CZ-11) rocket placed the Shiyan 21 test satellite into LEO. The mission took place from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. “Shiyan” translates to English as “experiment” and these satellites are routinely described...
China launches fourth Yaogan 36 military sat triplet of the year
At 1825 GMT on 14 December China successfully launched its fourth Yaogan 36 triplet of the year. The mission saw a Long March 2D (CZ-2D) rocket lift-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China, and place the three satellites into their planned low Earth...
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