by David Todd | May 6, 2016 | commercial launch services, Military space, Satellites, SpaceX, Technology
In what was the second successful down-range, drone barge-landing of the type, after a one day delay due to storms, a Falcon 9FT-R first stage successfully safely touched down after its launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, nearly nine minutes after its 0521 GMT launch...
by David Todd | Apr 28, 2016 | Launches, Military space, SpaceX
While the competition for its launch in the end came to nothing after ULA pulled out, the first GPS satellite (believed to be GPS IIIA-2) to be launched by Falcon 9 was officially signed to SpaceX’s rocket. The news was announced on 27 April 2016. The contract...
by David Todd | Apr 26, 2016 | Military space, Suborbital, Technology
While the first flight of Iran’s new Simorgh flown on 19 April 2016 from the Semnan launch site appeared, at first sight, to be a failure, most space analysts believe that the flight was simply a successful suborbital launch test flight of rocket stages. Either way,...
by David Todd | Mar 24, 2016 | Launches, Military space, Russia, Satellites
Russia’s military launched another reconnaissance satellite into orbit at 0942 GMT on 24 March 2016 from the Northern Russian launch site of Plesetsk. The launched Cosmos 2515 designated spacecraft is an electro-optical area surveillance stereoscopic cartography...
by David Todd | Mar 1, 2016 | Launches, Military space, Seradata News, Technology
The US Air Force continues its efforts to look for a replacement rocket for the Russian-built RD-180 Atlas rocket design. On 29 February, the Space and Missile Systems Center awarded two public-private rocket development contracts. One award is to Aerojet Rocketdyne...
by David Todd | Feb 11, 2016 | Launches, Military space, Satellites, Seradata News
At 1140 GMT on 10 February 2016, the mysterious military payload NRO L-45 was launched into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office by a Delta IVM +5,2 rocket flying from the Vandenberg launch site in California. The launch, performed under the control of the...
