SSI News
On a sadder note: “The Mouse on the Moon” actor Bernard Cribbins dies
We are sad to note that veteran comedy actor and narrator Bernard Cribbins OBE has died at the age of 93. After a small part as a sonar operating sailor in HMS Amethyst (1957), his initial fame came in co-starring with Peter Sellars in the classic comedy films Two...
Chinese Zhongke ZK-1A (Lijian 1) rocket makes successful maiden launch carrying six small satellites
China conducted the maiden flight of a four stage solid-propellant rocket dubbed the Zhongke ZK-1A (Lijian-1) at 0412 GMT o 27 July 2022 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It carried six satellites into LEO including the SATech 01 spacecraft. The rocket, which...
Eutelsat and OneWeb sign US$3.4 billion merger deal
French satellite operator Eutelsat and UK government part-owned OneWeb have signed a merger deal that values the latter at US$3.4 billion. The acquisition by Eutelsat will see the creation of a new company to compete in the commercial space race with Elon Musk’s...
NASA selects SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch Roman Space Telescope in October 2026
The Roman Space Telescope (Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope) which was formerly known as WFIRST (Wide Field Infra Red Survey Telescope) has had an launch ordered for it according to a NASA announcement on 19 July. NASA has given the contract to SpaceX which will fly...
Small orders: Satellite Vu orders second sat from SSTL, Northrop Grumman gets ROOSTER order, Draper gets NASA lunar farside experiment contract
A series of small spacecraft and experiment orders were announced in July. Satellite Vu has ordered the second in its small seven thermal imaging satellite constellation from the Guildford, England-based small satellite manufacturer SSTL using its DarkCarb bus design....
Wentian lab module docks at Chinese space station after Long March 5B launch
China’s experiment module I (Wentian) has successfully docked with the Chinese Space Station to become a permanent part of it. The module – the first lab module of the Chinese space station – was launched on a Long March 5B (CZ-5B) rocket from Wenchang Satellite...
Russian and European rare joint spacewalk completed
Russian cosmonaut and ISS Commander Oleg Artemyev and ESA astronaut Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti made a spacewalk together on 21 July. This was the sixth excursion outside the ISS so far this year and a rare Russian/European joint EVA (Extra Vehicular...
SaxaVord Spaceport construction fires up with seven launch providers already onboard
At the northernmost edges of the UK lies Unst, one of the North Isles of the Shetland Islands. The quiet island off the Northeast of the Scottish Mainland only has a population of 632. And yet, it will soon be home to a main plank of the UK space effort, the SaxaVord...
SpaceX breaks own record for annual launches as it flies another two Falcon 9 Starlink flights
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, at 1739 GMT on 22 July. The vehicle was carrying 46 Starlinks of Group 3-2 which were being placed into the third...
Impulse Space books its Mars Lander ride on Relativity’s Terran-R rocket
The private Impulse Space firm which is planning a private lander mission to Mars has booked its ride for its way to the planet. It has announced that its Mars Cruise Vehicle and Mars Lander will take a flight on board Relativity Space's Terran reusable rocket. The...
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