SSI News
SpaceX launches 52 Starlink Group 4-26 satellites
After a slight delay due to upper-level winds in the vicinity of the launch site, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 successfully launched 52 Starlink satellites on 10 August at 0214 GMT from the Kennedy Space Center – Eastern Test Range. Less than 9 minutes after the launch, first...
Space “carpooling”: NASA smallsats to hitch a ride with SPHEREx
NASA has announced that its Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will join the SPHEREx satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 flight, scheduled to launch in April 2025. NASA's PUNCH missions consists of four smallsats to measure the outer part of...
China launches 16 EO sats on a Long March 6 rocket
China launched a Long March 6 (CZ-6) rocket at 0450 GMT on 10 August from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The rocket carried 16 satellites built by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. Ltd., into a sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit. They will form part of its...
Russia builds and launches Khayyam spy satellite for Iran plus 16 cubesats onboard Soyuz 2-1B Fregat (corrected)
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz 2-1B Fregat from their Baikonur Cosmodrome site at 0552 GMT on 9 August. The launch's main payload was Khayyam, a Russian-built Earth-observation/reconnaissance satellite built for Iran. Khayyam (aka Project 505) will be used by...
Chinese Ceres-1 rocket flies successfully again on third flight
Galactic Energy of China launched the third Ceres-1 (aka Gushenxing-1) solid rocket four-stage launch vehicle successfully with its lift off from Jiuquan launch site taking place at 0411 GMT on 9 August. The flight carried the Taijing-1 01 and Taijing-1 02 optical...
Firefly to help build Antares 330 stage after Russian engine supply halted
Northrop Grumman Corporation and launch vehicle manufacturer Firefly Aerospace have joined forces to provide an American-built first-stage upgrade for the Antares 330 rocket, so it is no longer reliant on Russian-built RD-181 engines. The Antares 330 will use seven of...
On a sadder note: Goodbye Lieutenant Uhura
Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Lt Nyota Uhura, communications officer to the USS Enterprise, in the Star Trek science fiction TV series in the late 1960s and later movie series has died at the age of 89. Nichols who at one time wanted to give up the role was...
India’s quick response SSLV small launch vehicle fails on first mission
The maiden flight of India’s latest rocket, the SSLV, has gone wrong. After an apparently successful launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, in Sriharikota, at 0348 GMT on 07 August, things began to unravel. The rocket’s upper stage and payloads (which appeared to...
China launches carbon monitoring environmental satellite
China successfully launched a Long March 4B (CZ-4B) rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 0308 GMT on 4 August. The mission carried three satellites, of which the primary one was the environmental monitoring unit, TECIS-1. TECIS-1 (Terrestrial Ecosystem...
From South Korea to the Moon: “Danuri” launches successfully
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, USA at 2308 GMT on 4 August. The vehicle was carrying Danuri (meaning “enjoy the Moon”) - better known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO). As South Korea’s first Lunar...
Stay Informed with Seradata
Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.