SSI News
LauncherOne second stage failure condemns first orbital launch from UK to a watery grave (Corrected)
With much fanfare, the first ever orbital launch attempt from UK soil began with the lift-off from Newquay Airport’s horizontal spaceport facility of Boeing 747-400 “Cosmic Girl”. Beneath the wing of the carrier aircraft was the Virgin Orbit LauncherOne. Cosmic Girl...
First Chinese launches of the Year: Long March 7A rocket from Wenchang & a Ceres from Jiuquan CORRECTED
China opened its launch account for 2023 with a pair of orbital launches. At 2200 GMT on 8 January 2022, China launched a Long March 7A (CZ-7A) rocket from its Southern launch site, Wenchang, Hainan Island. It carried the Shi Jian 23 communications test satellite. The...
2022 Launch Year: China vies with SpaceX for supremacy with yet another orbital launch record for both rockets and satellites
During 2022 there were 186 orbital launch attempts. This beat 2021’s record-breaking total of 146 launches (the previous record was in 1967 with 139 launches). Thanks to the 61 launches made by SpaceX’s Falcon 9/Falcon Heavy family, the US retook the lead with 78,...
Northstar ends Thales contract and raises US$35 million for its SSA business as 2023 launches near (updated)
Canadian startup NorthStar Earth & Space has ended its three-year contract with Thales Alenia Space in favour of a space-as-a-service model contract with Spire Global, according to Space Intel Report which first reported the news. In an email on 5 January the...
SpaceX Falcon 9 kicks off the new year with launch of Transporter 6 mission
The sixth Transporter rideshare mission (Transporter-6) carrying 114 satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket took place at 1456 GMT from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 3 January 2023. A SpaceX Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 for the launch which marked the first orbital attempt of the...
What’s Next for Space Exploration in 2023 and Beyond
Much changed on Earth and in space during 2022. In July the James Webb Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space, delighted the world with stunning infrared images, revealing the most detailed view ever of the Universe. After a series of stalled attempts,...
Poland orders two reconnaissance satellites from Airbus DS
Poland has ordered two reconnaissance satellites from Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) to bolster its reconnaissance capabilities against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The satellites are being built by Airbus DS using the basic design of the latest...
Israeli EROS C3 reconnaissance/Earth imaging satellite is launched by SpaceX Falcon 9
A Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket operated by SpaceX has launched the Israeli EROS C3 reconnaissance/Earth observation satellite into a retrograde low Earth orbit of 503 x 485 km at 139.4 degrees inclination from the Vandenberg launch site in California, USA. The...
Last Chinese launch of the year: Shiyan 10-02 is launched by Long March 3B
China has launched a Long March 3B-G2 (CZ-3B-G2) rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China, carrying the Shiyan 10-02 satellite into what is thought to be a "Molniya" style highly inclined and eccentric orbit like its predecessor in the Shiyan 10 class,...
Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 5-1 – the first “Generation 2” Starlink comsats
On 28 December 2022 at 0934 GMT SpaceX launched their Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 2 rocket successfully from Cape Canaveral with 54 Starlink Gen2 (Generation 2) satellites aboard - the first set of the newest generation of Starlink communications satellites. SpaceX’s...
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