Satellite News
Launcher News
Satellites fail to reach orbit as first launch from UK ends in disappointment
An investigation has been launched after an attempt to make space history by sending satellites into orbit from British soil for the first time ended in failure Monday night due to an anomaly in the second stage of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.
First launch by ABL Space Systems fails shortly after liftoff
ABL Space Systems’ first RS1 rocket fell back on its launch pad at Kodiak Island, Alaska, shortly after liftoff on the company’s first orbital launch attempt, destroying the rocket and damaging the ground facility, officials said Wednesday.
Vulcan rocket one step closer to launch
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket has begun its journey to the launch site in preparation for the first test flight. The certification flight one (Cert-1) rocket was completed, loaded onto the R/S RocketShip outside of ULA’s rocket factory in Decatur, Ala.
China’s first private sector 2023 rocket launch up, up and away
Galactic Energy, a private aerospace manufacturer in Beijing, launched its fifth Ceres 1 rocket on Monday afternoon, deploying five small satellites into orbit. The Ceres 1 Y5 rocket blasted off at 1:04 pm from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert and placed the satellites into a preset orbit shortly after
SpaceX edges closer to first Starship orbital launch attempt
SpaceX and its chief executive, Elon Musk, say the first orbital launch attempt of its Starship vehicle is approaching, but the company must first overcome both technical and regulatory obstacles.
Exploration News
Russia to launch replacement for damaged Soyuz crew ship at space station
Russian space agency and NASA officials said Wednesday they will accelerate the launch of the next Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, and fly it to the complex next month without anyone on-board to replace a Soyuz crew ferry ship damaged Dec. 14 by a high-speed impact, likely from a tiny particle from deep space. The schedule shuffle will mean two Russian cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut will stay in space several months beyond their planned return to Earth in late March.
China’s Tianwen-1 Mars orbiter and rover appear to be in trouble
The two spacecraft making up China’s first interplanetary mission are both suffering issues, with the rover potentially lost on the surface after winter hibernation.
NewSpace News
Planet Labs completes acquisition of Salo Sciences
Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Salo Sciences, a San Francisco-based climate technology company that provides cutting-edge solutions to measure Earth’s constantly changing ecosystems. I
Europe’s 1st solar sail mission successfully launched
Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics) has announced the successful launch of Europe‘s first solar sail mission aboard SpaceX Transporter-6 — the 6U smallsat, nicknamed ‘Alpha,’ was manufactured for France’s Gama and is one of four satellites that was guided into LEO. This is the first time for NanoAvionics that one of its smallsat buses has carried a […]
The 1st orbital mission for Impulse Space is revealed
Impulse Space, Inc., has announced the company’s first orbital mission — LEO Express-1. Using Mira, the company’s first Orbital Service Vehicle (OSV), this mission will perform in-space services, including last-mile orbital payload delivery, payload hosting, very low altitude maneuvers and controlled atmospheric re-entry. Impulse has procured a launch slot for this mission on a SpaceX
Stratospheric ballooning company World View to go public in SPAC deal
World View, a company that is developing stratospheric balloon platforms as an alternative to spacecraft for research and tourism, announced Jan. 13 it will go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger.
Capella Space raises $60 million to accelerate constellation
Capella Space has raised $60 million to allow the company to accelerate the deployment of its constellation and meet growing demand for its synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery.
NorthStar raises $35 million for debris-tracking satellites
Canada’s NorthStar Earth and Space said Jan. 5 it has raised $35 million ahead of plans to deploy its first three satellites this year for tracking objects in orbit.
Space Safety News
European firms partner for LEO collision avoidance demo
Three young European space companies said Jan. 9 they have teamed up to test a collision avoidance system on a small satellite this year in low Earth orbit.
Defunct NASA satellite reenters
A defunct NASA satellite, launched nearly four decades ago, is predicted to reenter late Jan. 8 with a very small risk to people on the ground.
