OneWeb aims to “streamline” future constellation from 48,000 to 6,000 sats whilst announcing further funding
In a surge of activity OneWeb - recently purchased by a British/Indian interest - has applied to the US FCC for a "minor" amendment to its Phase 2 constellation proposal. Two days later, on 15 January, it announced US$400 million in further funding from previous...
Blue Origin launches new version of New Shepard on suborbital uncrewed test flight plus a new capsule
At 1717 GMT on 14 January, Blue Origin conducted a test flight from their Van Horn, Texas, facility. The subject was a re-engined version of the New Shepard vertically-launched, suborbital, spaceflight system. Additionally the mission was also evaluating a new capsule...
SpaceX Cargo Dragon CRS-21 freighter undocks from ISS and re-enters…as NASA plans new add-on solar arrays
The SpaceX freighter Cargo Dragon CRS-21 which was being operated on a mission for NASA, undocked from IDA-3 port on the Harmony module of the International Space Station (ISS) at 1405 GMT on 12 January 2021. Unlike earlier the Cargo Dragon design which needed the ISS...
Manifest activity for SpaceX with new order for MethaneSAT and juggling rideshare payloads
On 13 January SpaceX was selected by MethaneSAT LLC (part of the Environmental Defense Fund) to launch its MethaneSAT mission in late-2022. The satellite will ride on a Falcon 9 rocket and will likely be joined by other payloads considering its less than hefty mass...
First launch of 2021 sees SpaceX Falcon 9 place Turksat 5A into supersync GTO
SpaceX launched the Turksat 5A geostationary communications satellite at 0215 GMT on 8 January from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission utilised a Falcon 9 rocket which deployed the 3,500 kg payload into a super-synchronous GTO (Geostationary Transfer Orbit) of...
Despite anti-democratic attempt to storm its government, USA gets a new President…one with Senate power which is bad news for SLS (Updated)
Having been persuaded by President Donald Trump to march in protest over his assertion (without believable evidence) that he had been robbed of election victory, a mob of his right-wing supporters went significantly beyond peaceful protest in Washington D.C. on 6...
Oops butterfingers! Two DARPA Mandrake satellites are dropped during processing
Space News reports that two DARPA owned satellites Mandrake 1 and 2 have been damaged during processing. The satellites were apparently dropped on 4 January at a satellite processing facility at Cape Canaveral while being loaded into a payload separation system which...
2020 Launch year – final reckoning: Lots of launch failures, the most ever satellites launched, while UK takes surprise runner-up position
According to the Seradata SpaceTrak launch and satellite database, the "final score" for launches in 2020 is 11 launch failures out of 114 orbital attempts. One of these failures was really a minor partial involving a pair of stuck Lemur satellites on a Vega (only...
After negotiations Intelsat places order for two Airbus OneSat satellites
Peter B. de Selding (spaceintelreport.com) has revealed that after initially wanting three units in November 2020, Intelsat has had to place an order for two satellites from Airbus DS. This renegotiated order was placed on 31 December after its Creditors would not...
SpaceX receives contract to launch multiple Space Development Agency satellites
As a last hurrah on 31 December 2020, SpaceX was awarded the launch contract for the 28 satellites the Space Development Agency (SDA) has in development. These are made up of the 20 Transport Layer data-relay units and eight Tracking Layer missile-warning satellites....
