SSI News
From East to West: SpaceX makes launches to LEO for Starlink and to GEO for Inmarsat
On the West Coast, SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from the Vandenberg space base in California, USA, at 1912 GMT on 17 February. The rocket was carrying 51 Starlink satellites. The B1063 first stage landed on the drone barge “Of Course I...
Orbiter SN-1 delivery satellite dies from power loss and takes client sats with it
Launcher’s Orbiter SN-1 delivery spacecraft has failed in orbit, according to the California based rocket developer. Its orbital transfer spacecraft/tug was launched on 3 January aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-6 rideshare flight. The rocket successfully...
Japan’s H3 rocket maiden flight aborted after main engines ignite
With mere seconds left before its planned lift-off from the Tanegashima launch site, Japan aborted the maiden flight of its new expendable H3 rocket. The H3 flight, which used the H3-22S variant, was scheduled to launch at 0137:55 GMT on 17 February. The main stage’s...
Comment: Russians reach for space excuse No 1: blame it on a meteor or debris strike…but sometimes they are right
A radiator leak of coolant on board the Soyuz MS-22 while it was attached to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 2022 was just the start of problems. Not only was a Cosmonaut spacewalk postponed, but an empty Soyuz spacecraft was even requested to be...
Virgin Orbit cracks probable cause of LauncherOne failure after its Cornwall lift-off (Corrected)
Launch provider Virgin Orbit has disclosed the probable cause of the failure that destroyed the high-profile “Start Me Up” launch and its nine small payloads: a dislodged fuel filter. The Cosmic Girl carrier aircraft took off for the first orbital attempt from the UK...
SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 55 Starlink satellites – this time Group 5-4
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA at 0510 GMT on 12 February. The vehicle was carrying 55 Starlink Gen2 (Generation 2) satellites of Group 5-4 which were placed into an initial low Earth orbit. They will...
Events on the ISS: Progress MS-20 cargo craft raises International Space Station, then makes way for Progress MS-22…as Progress MS-21 springs a leak
At 1030 GMT on 3 February 2023, the cargo craft Progress MS-20 fired its engines for a 1.4m/s to boost itself and the attached International Space Station to 424 x 412 km. Four days later, having been loaded with garbage, at 0456 GMT on 7 February, the Progress MS-20...
Amazonas Nexus comsat is launched into a Super-synchronous transfer orbit by Falcon 9
After a few days of weather related delays, a SpaceX Falcon 9v1.2FT Block 5 rocket was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, on the coast of Florida, USA at 0132 GMT on 7 February 2022. Aboard was the communications satellite Amazonas Nexus which was being...
Proton-M launches Elektro-L N4 weather sat for Russia
A Proton-M/Block DM-03 launch vehicle was successfully launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, near Tyuratam in Kazakhstan at 0912 GMT on 5 February 2023. It carried the Elektro-L N4, a Russian geostationary weather satellite. It is the Fourth Elektro-L satellite to be...
Upgrade to ISS continues as EVA prepares for additional solar arrays
On 2 February 2023, after the Quest airlock was depressurised, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann and JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata opened the hatch at 1245 GMT, 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Their mission objective was to complete the construction of a mounting platform on...
Stay Informed with Seradata
Stay informed on the latest news, insights, and more from Seradata by signing up for our newsletter.