Virgin Galactic announced at the beginning of July that its founder Richard Branson will be a passenger on the next flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle, VSS Unity. Designated ‘Unity 22’, the mission is due to launch on 11 July from its base at...
Taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo opened the Tianhe 1 hatch on 4 July at 0011 GMT. Boming exited the Chinese space station airlock first to attach a foot restraint and platform to the end of the station’s 10 metre robotic arm. He then mounted the arm....
Seradata hosted its biennial space insurance conference virtually this year with over 170 attendees during the afternoons of 23 and 24 June. It was sponsored by ExoAnalytic, Piiq Risk Partners, Aon ISB, and Russell Group. The conference was ably chaired by Morten...
At 1526 GMT on 22 May Virgin Galactic achieved its first successful suborbital crewed mission from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Following its release from the WhiteKnightTwo – VMS Eve – carrier aircraft the SpaceShipTwo vehicle – VSS Unity –...
At 0642 GMT on 9 May 2021 SpaceX conducted its second Starlink launch of the month. This mission lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and carried 60 Starlink satellites into LEO. Importantly, this mission was the first to pass the 10th re-use milestone for a...
Ingenuity – part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission – made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet at 0730 GMT on 19 April. The 2 kg solar-powered drone helicopter, which had been deployed on the Martian surface by the Mars rover Perseverence, managed to...
