SSI News
China makes two launches within hours – admittedly from different launch sites
China has underlined its position as leading space launch provider in terms of nationality. A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) was launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 2344 GMT on 26 February. The spacecraft aboard was the Ludi Tance radar satellite. Under four...
Globalstar awakens to order 17 new satellites from Canadian MDA Corp, Rocket Lab to act as sub-contractor
Globalstar, one of the original LEO constellation operators, has ordered 17 new satellites – the first such activity in a decade. On 24 February, the US operator contracted with recently independent Canadian manufacturer MDA Corp for the new satellites to ensure...
Space Insurance Year 2021 was a winning one on a calendar basis
Space Insurance Year 2021 was a profitable one when net losses are compared with premium revenue. According to the Seradata SpaceTrak database, the industry’s projected total losses (some of the claims have yet to be agreed) for the calendar year are circa US$360...
Analysis: Putin orders Russian tanks to roll into Ukraine…and spaceflight will be affected (Updated/Corrected)
On 21 February, Russia’s President Putin ordered troops and tanks into disputed territories of Donetsk and Luhansk for “peacekeeping”, which was regarded by many as an act of war. This became certain when Russian troops and T-72 and T-90 tanks, supported by the...
SpaceX conducts Starlink launch with new higher deployment orbit…as it secures a launch order from Satellite Vu
Launching at 1444 GMT on 21 February a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has carried 46 Starlink satellites to LEO (Low Earth Orbit). The mission took place from Cape Canaveral, the USA, and was launched into a south-easterly direction. The launch carried three satellites fewer...
Cygnus NG-17 freighter named after admired late astronaut Piers Sellars is launched to ISS on an Antares rocket
At 1740 GMT on 19 February 2022, an Antares 230+ rocket carrying Cygnus NG-17 successfully lifted off from Wallops Island USA . The spacecraft was named S.S. Piers Sellars after the late and much admired astronaut Piers Sellers who died of pancreatic cancer in...
Lockheed Martin ends attempt to purchase Aerojet Rocketdyne
American aerospace and defence mainstay Lockheed Martin has stopped its planned purchase of Aerojet Rocketdyne, as announced on 13 February. Lockheed proposed its purchase of its fellow industry participant in December 2020 but ran into issues concerning Aerojet's...
Billionaire Jared Isaacman works with SpaceX to provide private Polaris spacewalk missions
Jared Isaacman, the US billionaire who recently funded a part-charity human space mission called Inspiration4 which flew into orbit on a Falcon 9-launched Crew Dragon in September 2021, is planning to fund three more private human missions, dubbed Polaris. The first...
Progress MS-19 is launched to ISS
The cargo craft Progress MS-19 (ISS-80P) was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on a resupply mission on a Soyuz 2-1a carrier rocket. The launch lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan at 0425 GMT on 15 February 2022. Update...
ISRO launches its PSLV with EOS-04 radar satellite aboard plus two smaller satellites
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle PSLV-XL on flight PSLV-C52 injected Earth Observation Satellite EOS-04 (aka RISAT 1A) into its intended sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km altitude some 18 minutes after its launch at 0029 GMT from Satish Dhawan Space Centre...
Stay Informed with Seradata
Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.