SSI News
Zhuque-2 wins “Methalox race” as it achieves orbit on second attempt
While the industry trend is to move to “methalox” – liquid methane/liquid natural gas and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants – no rocket using this combination had achieved orbit…until now. The Chinese privately run company Landspace has successfully launched its...
China launches at least one experimental comsat on Long March 2C rocket
At least one experimental communications satellite was reportedly launched into a circular 1100 km orbit inclined at 86.5 degrees inclination at 1100 GMT on 9 July 2023 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in North West China by a CALT-operated Long March 2C/3/YZ-1S...
SpaceX puts two Starlink launches up – one a reusable record breaker
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Vandenberg, California, at 1929 GMT on 7 July. The launch vehicle was carrying Starlink Group 5-13, a total of 48 Starlink v1.5 satellites for the second-generation constellation. The B1063 reusable...
Analysis: jet and spacecraft full-screen cockpits are loved by crews but not touch-screen switches
The introduction of “full screen” cockpits is evident both in fighter jets and on human carrying spacecraft. For example, the latest F-35 stealth jet fighter in its various vanilla F-35A, hooked carrier F-35C and vertical landing F-35B guises has no HUD (Head Up...
Ariane 5 finale: last launch sends Heinrich Hertz and Syracuse 4B satellites safely on their way
The 117th and last Ariane 5, flight VA261 using the Ariane 5 ECA+ variant, successfully lifted off from the ELA3 pad at Kourou, French Guiana, at 2200 GMT on 5 July. The rocket was carrying two communications satellites: Germany’s H2SAT (Heinrich Hertz) and France’s...
Movie review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is a return to form for our Indy with a timely space connection
The adventure movie, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, has finally been released after some years in production. Directed by James Mangold and starring Harrison Ford in the title role, it is, like its predecessors, a rip-roaring travelogue adventure, although...
Dragon CRS-28 undocks from ISS and splashes down off coast of Florida
Dragon CRS-28, an unpiloted resupply craft, undocked from the space-facing (Zenith) port of the International Space Station’s (ISS) Harmony module at 1630 GMT on 29 June. It carried around 1,630 kg of scientific cargo including samples from BioNutrients-2, Monoclonal...
ESA’s Euclid telescope mapping dark matter is launched by SpaceX Falcon 9
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 carrying the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid Telescope from Cape Canaveral, US, at 1512 GMT on 1 July. Euclid, named after a Greek mathematician known for founding the study of geometry, will spend the next month travelling...
Vega-C solid rocket has test failure…as payloads start jumping ship
A test to qualify a new carbon-carbon material in the nozzle on the Vega-C Zefiro-40 second stage solid rocket engine after it was indicated as the source of a launch failure in December 2022 has itself ended in failure - but not of the nozzle. While the nozzle...
Virgin Galactic finally makes first commercial suborbital flight – and it is a success
Virgin Galactic made the first fully commercial flight of its air-dropped SpaceShipTwo rocket plane VSS Unity on 29 June. The nearly 14 minute long Galactic 01 mission (from drop to landing) flew successfully to the edge of space before landing safely back at the...
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