SpaceX Falcon Heavy selected to launch Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander in 2023
Astrobotic has selected SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket to fly its first GRIFFIN lunar lander to the Moon. This is the first mission for its larger lander product - its smaller PEREGRINE lander is due to fly this year. The GRIFFIN mission is planned to launch in 2023 and...
MEV-2 satellite life extender spacecraft finally docks with Intelsat 10-02 in GEO
Northrop Grumman's SpaceLogistics LLC subsidiary announced that its Mission Extension Vehicle- 2 ( MEV-2) had successfully docked with the communications Intelsat 10-02 (IS-10-02) in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) in order to extend its life. After some practice...
On a sadder note: HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, passes away at 99
With just two months to go before he would have celebrated his 100th birthday, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, died in peace at Windsor Castle after suffering a recent deterioration in his health. Prince Philip is most famous for being Her...
Soyuz MS-18 mission carries three crew members to the ISS
Lifting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 0742 GMT on 9 April the Soyuz MS-18 mission carried three crew members to the ISS. The mission utilised a Soyuz 2-1A rocket to loft the Soyuz capsule into a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), inclined at 51.6 degrees....
On short notice China launches experimental satellite to LEO, will reportedly study the space environment
After a period of speculation concerning a planned Chinese launch, it lifted off at 2301 GMT, 8 April 2021 from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The Long March 4B (CZ-4B) rocket carried the Shiyan 6-03 (Shiyan Weixing 6-03) to a high, 1,000 km, Low Earth Orbit...
ORBCOMM enters into deal to be purchased by investment firm, company valued at US$1.1 billion
ORBCOMM released an announcement on 8 April 2021 stating that it had entered into an agreement to be bought by fellow American company GI Partners. GI Partners is a private investment firm based in California, looking to expand its "data infrastructure" portfolio. The...
April marks another Falcon 9 launch of 60 Starlink satellites
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2 Block 5 vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 1634 GMT on 7 April 2020. The launch carried 60 Starlink satellites. The B1058 first stage of the vehicle on its seven flight made a successful landing on the drone barge...
Crew Dragon Resilience (Crew 1) makes a repositioning move around ISS
There have been lots of comings and goings on the International Space Station (ISS) during April. The SpaceX Crew Dragon Reslience being flown as part of the NASA Crew 1 mission - undocked from ISS from Harmony module's forward docking port at 1030 GMT on 4 April...
Coup for ABL as it announces Lockheed Martin order for 58 of its launches
Lockheed Martin may have its primary interest in large rocket launches via its half share (with Boeing) of the United Launch Alliance (ULA). It is nevertheless it is striking out on its own - albeit with a partner, the small launch vehicle provider ABL Space Systems....
Long March 4C launches Gaofen 12 (02)
A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch site in North West China to launch the Gaofen 12 (02) high resolution Earth observation satellite into orbit at 2245 GMT on 30 March. The spacecraft was placed into a circa 600 km near polar...
