SpaceX: Two rockets, two days and 106 new Starlink satellites
It was a busy weekend for SpaceX which launched two Falcon 9 rockets in less than 24 hours between 13 and 14 May. A Falcon 9 (Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5) from Vandenberg, USA was launched at 2207 GMT on 13 May 2022. The vehicle carried 53 Starlinks (Group 4-13) into...
CACI to launch nav test payloads as part of demo to US military
US defence contractor CACI International will launch two demonstration payloads on a York Space built satellite as part of an experiment in military use of space technologies. The satellite will be placed into a low Earth obit (LEO) in January 2023 and carried by the...
Upgraded Hyperbola 1 (SQX-1) rocket fails losing another Jilin-1 Mofang-1A observation satellite (Updated)
The launch of the Jilin-1 Mofang-1A (R) Earth Observation satellite by an upgraded version of the four stage Hyperbola 1/SQX-1 (Shian Quxian-1) rocket has ended in failure. The launch took place from Jiuquan at 0709 GMT on 13 May 2022. Initial reports are that after a...
Satellogic secures launches for 68 further satellites in second multilaunch agreement with SpaceX
On 4 May South American newspace company Satellogic announced a new contract with SpaceX to launch 68 of its Earth Observation satellites on an unspecified number of future launches. These missions are set to begin in "early 2023". The parties are currently working...
Cargo spaceship Tianzhou-4 docks with Chinese space station after its launch by Long March 7
China's unpiloted cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-4, docked with the Chinese Space Station (CSS) at 0047 GMT on 10 May, seven hours after its televised Long March 7 (CZ-7) launch which was broadcast on Chinese state media. The cargo freighter was launched at 1756 GMT on 9...
French satellite operator Prométhée picks NanoAvionics to build its first nanosatellite
Paris-based satellite operator Prométhée have instructed mission integrator NanoAvionics to construct its first nanosatellite, as the French start-up begins progress on its plans to build a constellation of nanosatellites for Earth observation. ProtoMéthée-1 is...
Japanese iQPS contracts for launch of its fifth SAR satellite with Virgin Orbit
Japanese newspace company, iQPS Inc, has contracted with American launch provider Virgin Orbit for the launch of its fifth satellite. iQPS is building a 36 unit fleet of SAR-equipped (Synthetic Aperture Radar) small satellites to provide high-resolution imagery with...
SpaceX launches first of many planned Starlink launches in May
At 0942 GMT on 6 May a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida carrying 53 Starlink satellites. The payloads were successfully bulk deployed in to their deployment orbit in LEO at around an hour after launch. They will now undergo...
NASA Crew 3 (Endurance) departs the International Space Station (Updated)
On 5 May 2022 at 0320 GMT, the NASA Crew 3 (Endurance) mission astronauts closed the hatch between their Crew Dragon craft and the International Space Station (ISS). Undocking was autonomous from the forward port of the ISS's Harmony module at 0520 GMT. Commander Raja...
Eight more Earth Observation satellites launched for Chinese Jilin-1 constellation
A Long March-2D (CZ-2D) rocket launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Northern China, at 0238 GMT on 5 May. The mission carried eight Jilin-1 Earth Observation satellites to a low Earth orbit (LEO). The primary payload was the larger Jilin-1 Kuanfu-01C...