SSI News
Second “suborbital” spaceplane test for China hints at reusable two-stage launch system or one for fractional orbital bombardment
Details are sketchy but during late August, China mounted a launch of its suborbital/fractional orbital spaceplane from the Jiuquan launch site in the Gobi Desert. According to Space News (Andrew Jones) the flight took place on 26 August. This would make the second...
SpaceX completes fourth Starlink launch of August adding 54 satellites on Group 4-23
At 0341 GMT on 28 August SpaceX launched a batch of 54 Starlink satellites to LEO. The mission utilised its Falcon 9 rocket and lifted-off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission had been planned to utilise the neighbouring Kennedy Space Center facility however, due...
SLS maiden launch carrying Artemis I has first attempt scrubbed by engine sensor concern (Updated and corrected)
The much awaited first flight of the US SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle carrying the NASA Artemis I test flight of the uncrewed Orion spacecraft (plus 10 cubesat spacecraft) around the Moon has had to wait. An initially suspected hydrogen bleed issue meant...
Galaxy 15 payload shuts itself down as satellite continues to spiral out of Intelsat’s control (Updated)
Global satellite operator Intelsat revealed, on 18 August, that it had lost control of its direct broadcast satellite Galaxy 15, blaming geomagnetic storms. It now looks like the operator has also lost control of the satellite payload which shut itself down...
An untimely end for ESA’s Sentinel-1B
The European Space Agency (ESA) finally cut the cord on its Copernicus Sentinel-1B satellite earlier this month. The decision to end the mission, announced on 3 August, came after months of attempts to save Sentinel-1B after it suffered an anomaly in its electronics...
Earth Observation satellite launched by China
Launching from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, Shanxi, China, at 0301 GMT on 24 August, a Long March 2D (CZ-2D) rocket has placed an Earth Observation satellite into LEO. The satellite is identified as Beijing 3B and is a follow-on unit to Beijing 3A – launched...
Technology verification satellite launch by China
China conducted a Kuaizhou-1A launch at 0236 GMT on 23 August, from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. The payload, identified as Chuangxin-16 (CX-16), was successfully carried to LEO by the rocket. The satellite was reportedly built by Innovation Academy for...
China continues deployment of its Yaogan 35 series of satellites
The Chinese successfully launched a Long March 2D (CZ-2D) vehicle from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China at 1737 GMT on 19 August 2022. The vehicle was carrying the fourth Yaogan 35 triplet - the third such group launched this year - of military reconnaissance...
SpaceX Dragon CRS-25 undocks and returns off the coast of Florida
SpaceX's Dragon CRS-25 successfully undocked from the forward port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station (ISS) at 1505 GMT on 19 August. The uncrewed CRS-25 resupply spacecraft made a parachute-assisted splashdown off the coast of Florida at 1853...
SpaceX adds 53 Starlink Group 4-27 satellites to its launch tally
SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, USA at 1921 GMT on 19 August. The vehicle was carrying Starlink Group 4-27, which consists of 53 Starlink satellites. The B1062 first stage successfully landed on the drone barge “A Shortfall of Gravitas”...
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