Intelsat has ordered two geostationary (GEO) satellites with new “software-defined payloads” from Thales Alenia Space (TAS). The contract announced on 12 January outlined the two spacecraft, to be known as Intelsat 41 and 44, which are to be based on the new TAS Space...
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 2149 GMT on 6 January 2022 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The vehicle was carrying 49 Starlink satellites to continue the growth of this constellation. These satellites are destined for the 53.2 degree...
Arianespace got the year off to a good start thanks to an announcement by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) confirming plans to carry eight additional Galileo satellites. Arianespace will launch the first two...
The final score for orbital launches in 2021 was 146 – a record number since space launch history began with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. The previous record of 139 was set back in 1967. The “winner” in terms of number of launches was China with 56 launch attempts...
Quoting the Iranian Ministry of Defence, Iran’s Mehr news agency website has reported that a Simorgh (Safir 2A) rocket has successfully launched three payloads – but the success is disputed. The payloads – assumed to be small satellites – were announced as...
China made two final launches in 2021. It successfully launched a Long March 2D/2 (CZ-2D/2) vehicle from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China, at 1113 GMT on 29 December. The vehicle was carrying the Tianhui 4 cartography satellite for the PLA (Peoples...
