Proton-M launches Elektro-L N4 weather sat for Russia
A Proton-M/Block DM-03 launch vehicle was successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan at 0912 GMT on 5 February 2023. It carried the Elektro-L N4, a Russian geostationary weather satellite. It is the Fourth Elektro-L satellite to be...
Upgrade to ISS continues as EVA prepares for additional solar arrays
On 2 February 2023, after the Quest airlock was depressurised, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata opened the hatch at 1245 GMT, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Their mission objective was to complete the construction of a mounting platform on...
SSLV failure cause: Violent second stage separation triggered chain of events which prevented SSLV final stage burn to stable orbit
The failure investigation set up by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) into the launch failure of the maiden flight of its latest rocket, the SSLV, has revealed its results. The launch, which lifted off from the Sriharikota launch site at 0348 GMT on 7...
Starlink Group 5-3 is launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9
At 0758 GMT on 2 February 2023 a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 successfully launched 53 Starlink Gen2 satellites (Group 5-3) from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA.Their intended eventual operational orbit once they have raised themselves from their initial...
South Korea confirms shift of two missions from Russian launchers; Kompsat 6 goes to Arianespace and CAS500-2 goes back to international market
The South Korean vice-minister for Science, Oh Tae-seog, announced on 1 February 2023 that they had selected an Arianespace Vega C rocket to launch Kompsat 6 (Arirang 6) following international bidding. This contract replaces one previously held with ILS to launch...
SpaceX launches another batch of Starlinks plus ION-SCV9 delivery spacecraft testing separation system
A Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force base in California at 1615 GMT on 31 January. Aboard was a batch of 49 Starlink satellites (Group 2-6) for the SpaceX Starlink constellation. ION-SCV 9 (SCV 0009) — InOrbit NOW Satellite Carrier...
US sanctions SPACETY for supplying radar imagery to Russian Wagner Group in Ukraine
Just as Ukraine's military campaign has been supported by US commercial spacecraft operating firms — with SpaceX and Maxar providing broadband communications and Earth imagery respectively — a Russian private army group has apparently also benefitted from the help of...
SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 5-2
On 26 January 2023, at 0932 GMT, a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 successfully launched 56 Starlink Gen2 satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Their intended orbit is eventually into a circular orbit at an altitude of 530 km,...
Tianwen 1 mission’s Zhurong-1 Mars rover may have expired in its sleep
SpaceNews reports (quoting the South China Morning Post) that the Zhurong 1 Mars rover as part of the Tianwen 1 mission for China has failed to make contact in December as planned after its period of hibernation during the Northern Hemisphere Martian winter since 18...
Japan completes its first launch of the year of the radar reconnaissance satellite IGS RADAR-7
Kicking off its launch year, Japan has placed a radar reconnaissance satellite into near-500 km sun-synchronous low Earth orbit (LEO). The IGS RADAR-7 satellite was launched at 0150 GMT on 26 January by a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-2A202 rocket. This mission...