SSI News
Launches in May 2024
The US$3.1 billion offer Intelsat could not refuse from rival SES
SES has made an agreed bid of US$3.1 billion in cash for rival satellite operator Intelsat. The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2025, will see two of the ‘Big Four’ fixed-satellite service (FSS) commercial satellite operators merge to form a mega GEO...
Launches in April 2024
Round-up of recommended space stories in April
We're keeping an eye on space news on the web so you don't have to wade through it all. Here is our round-up of the most important, and interesting, space news stories of April (note that space orders is on another post): Future Human Spaceflight Blue Origin...
Mel’s Good Space
I love a good space story. Especially the ones of adventure, risk, technology and humans overcoming challenges presented by the cosmos. Enter our recently released report. Positioned through the lifecycle of a satellite, it makes for the start of a fascinating story....
Thuraya-3 satellite’s comms payload fails in orbit
Middle Eastern satellite operator Yahsat’s subsidiary Thuraya has lost the communications payload on one of its satellites. The Thuraya-3 communications satellite, located over 98.5 degrees east in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), had a serious payload anomaly on 15...
International Space Station battery debris falls on Florida home…so should Keraunothnetophobics be afraid?
Keraunothnetophobia, the fear of falling artificial satellites and other space objects, is not to be confused with Keraunophobia, the fear of lightning strikes. Although often regarded as especially irrational, Keraunothnetophobics’ fears turned out to be partly...
Space launch and satellite orders in April
Lots of military space orders - mostly small ones - were announced during April 2024. Many were revealed at one of the military space conferences during the month, including the Space Symposium, Colorado Springs, USA. There were also some large non-military orders...
US Navy counters Iran’s retaliatory mass missile attack on Israel using exo-atmospheric interceptors
The US Navy has used its Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor in action for the first time. SM-3s were used to shoot down Iranian medium-range ballistic missiles fired at Israel on 13 April in response to a fatal air strike, which Israel is widely believed to be...
Analysis: spiralling costs may spell end of the line for Mars Sample Return
The cost of NASA’s Mars Sample Return project has doubled from a projected US$5.3 billion to US$11 billion, prompting many to question whether it is worth continuing with the mission. In response, the US space agency has turned to its field centres for cost cutting...
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