SSI News
Rocket Lab to launch three SAR satellites for Synspective of Japan
Japanese company Synspective Inc has selected Rocket Lab to launch three of its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites. The announcement, on 8 December, states that its second satellite StriX-β will be the first included in this deal. Using the Rocket Lab Electron...
Soyuz 2-1a rocket launches Soyuz MS-20 on space tourist mission to ISS
A “vanilla” (no Fregat upper stage) Soyuz 2-1a rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan at 0738 GMT on 8 December 2021. The rocket carried the Soyuz MS-20 crewed spacecraft on its way to docking with the International Space Station...
Airbus selected to build ARIEL astronomical mission for ESA
European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Airbus DS to design and manufacture its fourth "Medium-class" Cosmic Vision mission. The Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey (ARIEL) mission is an exoplanet survey telescope, set to launch in 2029. ARIEL...
Atlas V 551 launches STP-3 mission with STPSAT-6 aboard
A ULA operated Atlas V 551 rocket successfully launched the US Space Force STP 3 mission which involved the STPSAT-6 technology test satellite. The launch used five GEM-63 solid rocket boosters as well as a single standard RL10C-1 engine on the Centaur upper stage....
Soyuz ST-B launches Galileosats 27 and 28 from Sinnamary, Kourou
After weather delays, a Russian-built Soyuz ST-b/Fregat MT launch vehicle on flight VS-26 operated by Arianespace and commissioned by ESA, lifted off with the pair of 715 kg Galileo navigation satellites from Sinnamary, near Kourou, French Guiana at 0019 GMT on 5...
SpaceX launches Starlink mission with two BlackSky rideshares
Marking the first launch of December a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX has lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 2312 GMT on 2 December. The mission carried a reduced Starlink count of 48 satellites - compared to the previous mission to this orbital shell which had...
NASA chooses three commercial LEO space station designs as possible replacements for ISS whose retirement it wants to delay until 2030
NASA has signed agreements with three US companies to develop designs of space stations and other commercial destinations in low Earth orbit (LEO). The idea is that NASA will part-fund a commercial economy in LEO after the retirement of the International Space Station...
Debris-delayed spacewalk goes ahead as astronauts replace faulty antenna
After a previous spacewalk attempt on 30 November 2021 was cancelled due to a space debris hazard warning, NASA astronauts Kayla Barron and Thomas Marshburn ventured outside the International Space Station (ISS) on 2 December on an extra vehicular activity (EVA)...
Ukrainian company Lunar Research Service contracts to include payload on maiden launch of RFA ONE rocket
A prospective Ukrainian Lunar exploration company Lunar Research Service (LRS) has contracted to manifest a payload on the maiden launch of a German micro launcher. The Kiev-based company signed the contract with Rocket Factory Augsburg AG (RFA) on 18 November. It...
China launches Chinasat 1D on a Long March 3B-G3 from Xichang
China has successfully launched the Chinasat 1D (aka Zhongxing 1D aka Feng Huo 2D) communications satellite on a Long March 3B-G3 (CZ-3B-G3) launch vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China, at 1640 GMT on 26 November. While never admitting its military...
Stay Informed with Seradata
Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.