SSI News
China launches the Chinasat 9B communications satellite using Long March 3B rocket
China successfully launched a Long March 3B/G2 (CZ-3B/G2) launch vehicle at 1150 GMT on 9 September from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China. It was carrying the Chinasat 9B (Zhongxing 9B) Civil communications satellite. The satellite which will eventually...
Long March 4C launches Gaofen 5-02
At 0301 GMT a Long March 4C carrying the Gaofen 5-02 satellite was launched successfully from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Northern China. The satellite is for Earth imaging and remote sensing satellite and is thought to be for civilian use.
ISS Cosmonauts complete the first of up to eleven planned spacewalks in aid of new module
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov of Roscosmos began their first of up to eleven planned spacewalks when they opened the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock of the ISS at 1441 GMT on 3 September. Their mission objective was to prepare the...
Cracking Up: Russian space engineering chief warns that aging International Space Station’s safety cannot be guaranteed
Vladimir Soloyov, Chief Engineer at the spacecraft manufacturer Energia, has noted via the RIA News Agency that the International Space Station (ISS) is slowly breaking down. Cracks discovered in the Russian-built Zvezda module in 2019 had been repaired by Roscosmos...
Maiden orbital attempt for Firefly Alpha ends in explosion two minutes after launch (Updated)
Launching from California, the two-stage Alpha rocket from Firefly was attempting to complete its maiden flight when it was seen to tumble and explode. After an earlier launch delay at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the rocket lifted off successfully at 0159 GMT on...
FAA grounds Virgin Galactic over flight trajectory anomaly during Sir Richard Branson’s suborbital launch (Updated)
The air-dropped suborbital launch of SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity carrying two crew plus four company trial passengers, including Virgin Galactic’s founder Sir Richard Branson, suffered a previously undisclosed trajectory anomaly involving a deviation from its air traffic...
Space Insurance: OneWeb decides to insure its entire GEN 1 constellation’s launches (Corrected)
OneWeb, the low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications company part-owned by the UK Government, has signed an agreement to insure its GEN 1 (Generation 1) constellation’s remaining launches up to an aggregate value of more than US$1 billion. The insurance...
SpaceX returns from summer slumber to launch a Dragon to resupply the ISS
A SpaceX Cargo Dragon was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, at 0714 GMT on 29 August. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle carried the freighter making up the SpaceX CRS-23 mission into a low Earth orbit, from where it...
Blue Origin completes New Shepard sub-orbital mission carrying multiple science payloads
Blue Origin conducted its New Shepard-17 (NS-17) suborbital mission carrying 18 experiments for commercial and institutional customers inside the capsule. Of the payloads 11 were NASA-supported, additionally it also carried an art installation on the exterior of the...
Astra Rocket 3.3 launch ends in failure after engine fault causes a bizarrely dithering lift-off
The Astra Space Inc, Rocket 3.3 executed what has to be one of the strangest "dithering" lift-offs ever witnessed, before later having its flight eventually terminated downrange by the Range Safety Officer. The launch took place from the Kodiak Island "Pacific...
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