Although the 2024 calendar year proved to be a highly profitable one for space insurers, the industry continued to reel from a revised US$1.3 billion net loss for 2023. Of the losses in 2023, most were relatively small sub-US$30 million claims. It was a series of...
Of the 259 orbital launch attempts made in 2024 (four Starship launches were excluded because they were sub-orbital), eight failed to achieve their correct orbits. This gave a failure rate of 3 per cent – relatively low compared with the previous year when it was 6...
A communications satellite in Intelsat’s Epic fleet created debris in space after it suffered an explosion in geostationary orbit at 0430 GMT on 19 October. Update on 29 October: Initial reports estimated that the event created 20 pieces of debris, but it was later...
A routine launch of a Falcon 9 by SpaceX turned into anything but for the industry behemoth. At 0235 GMT on 12 July a Falcon 9 v1.2FT Block 5 rocket, carrying Starlink Group 9-3, rose from its launch pad at Vandenberg, California, US. The Starlinks onboard were a set...
Despite a seemingly smooth launch, three Yunyao-1 weather satellites (Yunyao-1 15, 16 and 17) did not reach orbit after the Hyperbola 1 (SQX-1) experienced a fourth stage failure, Chinese authorities have disclosed. An upgraded version of the Hyperbola 1 (SQX-1) four...
Ariane 6, Europe’s new rocket, has finally been launched from Kourou, French Guiana. The journey to this milestone has been far from smooth. The launch vehicle has been the target of much criticism aimed at its extended development time, its ‘out of date’ non-reusable...
