Spacewalkers finish solar array fixture preparation work
Two astronauts, NASA's Kathleen Rubins and JAXA's Soichi Noguchi, ventured out of the International Space Station (ISS) on 5 March for a near seven hour EVA spacewalk to finish work on the P6 truss new struts and brackets at locations 2B and 4B. The work involved...
Following a long series of delays SpaceX has managed to launch its lingering Starlink mission
On 4 March 2021 at 0824 GMT SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 vehicle from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying the long-delayed seventeenth batch of v1.0 Starlink satellites. On-board the flight were 60 Starlinks which were released into a sub-300 km...
Not quite “Third time’s a charm” for SpaceX Spaceship prototype SN10 as it lands successfully but later explodes
Having had two explosive landing attempt failures with the SpaceX Starship prototypes SN8 and SN9 at its Boca Chica launch and landing base in Texas, SpaceX engineer and commentator John Inspruker tempted fate on 3 February for the SN10 test flight by saying "Third...
The newspace SPAC craze continues with established players Rocket Lab and Spire Global going public
Rocket Lab announced on 1 March 2021 that it plans to merge with Vector Acquisition Corporation, a SPAC (Special-purpose acquisition company) to become listed on the NASDAQ. The deal is expected to close in "Q2 2021" and has valued the company at US$4.1 billion. So...
Spacewalking astronauts attach brackets on ISS solar arrays ready for new ones
On the 28 February, spacewalking NASA astronauts Kate Rubins and Victor Glover made an extra vehicular activity (EVA) in order to add new structure to support new solar arrays which will begin to be installed later this year. Solar cells degrade over time and so the...
NASA awards three-launch contract for TROPICS mission to Astra Space
NASA has selected Astra Space Inc. to provide a launch service via its Astra Rocket 3 for the agency’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a Constellation of SmallSats (TROPICS) mission. According to NASA the launch service...
First launch of 2021 for India as PSLV places 19 payloads into LEO following a severely curtailed 2020
Launching for the first time in 2021 at 0454 GMT on 28 February a PSLV rocket lifted-off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), India. The particular variant of PSLV flown is the recently introduced PSLV-DL with just two strap-on boosters. Amazonia-1 was the primary...
Soyuz 2-1b Fregat M launches Arktika-M 1 arctic meteorological research sat
Russia successfully launched a Soyuz 2-1b Fregat M vehicle carrying the Arktika-M 1 satellite into a highly inclined elongated Molniya orbit at 0655 GMT on 28 February 2021. The Arktika-M 1 satellite was built by NPO Lavotchkin for the Roshydromet (Russian Weather...
Company moves: Inmarsat gets a new CEO while AAC Clyde Space loses a former one
The UK-based mobile communications GEO satellite operator Inmarsat has appointed Rajeev Suri to replace Rupert Pearce who steps down as its CEO at the end of February. Suri was the former CEO of the Finnish firm Nokia which was once the dominant player in the mobile...
Recently gobbled up BCT receives order for six further Blackjack sats from DARPA
During February 2021 DARPA extended its Blackjack commitment with Blue Canyon Technologies (BCT) by exercising part of an option to purchase six additional satellites from the company. The option stems from an original Blackjack order made with BCT in June 2020. DARPA...
