by David Todd | Jun 29, 2015 | China, Military space
A Long March 4B (CZ-4B) rocket was launched from China Taiyuan launch site at 0622 GMT on 26 June 2015. Aboard was a high resolution imaging spacecraft called Gaofen-8 which was being launched into a near polar Sun-synchronous orbit as part of the CHEOS (China High...
by David Todd | Jun 25, 2015 | Military space, Russia, Satellites, Seradata News, Soyuz
The Aerospace Defence Forces of Russia successfully launched a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia on 23 June 2015 at 1644 GMT. Aboard was a Persona-class reconnaissance satellite, later dubbed Cosmos 2506, which was being carried for...
by David Todd | May 27, 2015 | Military space, Satellites, SpaceX
After a long and, at times, bitter process costing US$60 million, SpaceX has finally received certification to launch US military payloads using its Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The launch firm is now expected to bid to launch GPS satellites shortly. The announcement is...
by David Todd | May 21, 2015 | Launches, Military space, Technology
At 1505 GMT on 20 May 2015, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the AFSPC-5 mission for the U.S. Air Force from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral. The AFSPC-5 was the mission name for the fourth flight of the X-37B/OTV (Orbital...
by David Todd | May 8, 2015 | Military space, On a Lighter Note, Seradata News
It was in his seminal work “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that the late comedy/science fiction writer, Douglas Adams, came up with the concept of an “Improbability Drive”. This drive, which allows some very strange and...
by David Todd | Mar 27, 2015 | Launches, Military space, Satellites
The IGS-5 Optical high resolution reconnaissance satellite, which is owned and operated by the Japan Defence Agency, was successfully launched into a Sun-synchronous orbit by an H-2A-202 (H-11A 202) launch vehicle from the Tanegashima launch site in Japan on 26 March...
