SSI News
Space Orders: D-Orbit gets SAR satellite contract for IRIDE as Loft Orbital doubles original order from Airbus OneWeb while Astra Space gets DoD launch order
The space transportation/delivery into orbit firm D-Orbit has signed a €26-Million Contract with ESA for IRIDE Satellite Observation Program to create a new Earth observation constellation which will be launched from 2025 that will monitor critical infrastructure, air...
NASA announces astronauts for Artemis II round the Moon trip with a pro-diversity and international slant
NASA has announced the names of the astronauts who will take part in the Artemis II “around the Moon” mission in 2024. They are: NASA astronauts Christina Hammock Koch, Reid Wiseman (Commander) and Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The...
Chinese Space Pioneer firm beats small launcher competitors by reaching orbit with its new liquid-fuelled Tianlong-2 rocket
Space Pioneer, a private Chinese space launch provider, successfully sent the new three-stage Tianlong-2 rocket on its maiden flight to orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre, China, at 0948 GMT on 2 April. The rocket uses LOX/kerosene as its propellants. The...
Falcon 9 launches “Tranche 0” military tracking and data relay satellites from Vandenberg
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Vandenberg, California, USA at 1529 GMT on 2 April 2023 on a mission for the Space Development Agency. The SDA-0A dubbed launch was carrying a pair of "Tracking Layer" spacecraft, SV1 and SV2, built by...
Third spacewalk from the CSS for Shenzhou 15 crew
On 30 March 2023, Chinese astronauts "taikonauts" Fei Junlong and Zhang Lu began their third space walk. The third crew member of Shenzhou 15 crew, Deng Qingming ,assisted from within the Chinese Space Station. Details on exact times have remained sketchy but reports...
Gold rush for lunar comms attracts Lockheed Martin which sets up subsidiary to operate satellite relay pair
While landings on the Moon have been done before and are now regarded as a known technology, something not previously catered for is communications to the lunar far side. For example, the Apollo and Surveyor lunar landing programmes all touched down on the Earth...
Suspected maritime surveillance satellite Yaogan 34-04 sat launched by China
A Long March 4C (CZ-4C) launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China, at 0627 GMT on 31 March. The rocket carried Yaogan 34-04 into a 63 degree, low Earth orbit. Both the Long March 4C rocket and its payload for this mission are built by SAST (Shanghai...
China launches four SAR satellites for commercial EO constellation
At 1050 GMT on 30 March a Long March 2D/2 (CZ-2D/2) rocket lifted-off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China, carrying four satellites. The satellites it carried were reportedly SAR microsatellites built for a company identified as Piesat or Aerospace Hongtu....
SpaceX launches next batch of Starlink satellites: Group 5-10
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, USA at 2101 GMT on 29 March. The vehicle carried a payload of 56 Starlink Group 5-10 satellites. All of the satellites onboard were deployed around 65 minutes after lift off, as planned. While the second...
Soyuz 2-1v single stack rocket launches fourth EO-MKA sat
At 1957 GMT on 29 March 2023, a Russian Soyuz-2-1v launch vehicle lifted off from the Plesetsk launch site in Northern Russia carrying a military satellite codenamed Cosmos 2568 (Kosmos 2568). The satellite is believed to be the fourth in the series of EO-MKA (EMKA)...
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