On 11 July, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson fulfilled a boyhood dream when he flew as ‘Astronaut 001” on his company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle, VSS Unity. He described it as “the experience of a lifetime” and “just magical”. The Unity 22...
China successfully launched a Long March 3C/E (CZ-3C/E) rocket carrying the Tianlian 1E satellite into GTO at 1553 GMT on 6 July. The mission was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre, China. Tianlian 1E will be used to provide data relay communications...
Virgin Galactic announced at the beginning of July that its founder Richard Branson will be a passenger on the next flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital tourism vehicle, VSS Unity. Designated ‘Unity 22’, the mission is due to launch on 11 July from its base at...
Taikonauts Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo opened the Tianhe 1 hatch on 4 July at 0011 GMT. Boming exited the Chinese space station airlock first to attach a foot restraint and platform to the end of the station’s 10 metre robotic arm. He then mounted the arm....
Seradata hosted its biennial space insurance conference virtually this year with over 170 attendees during the afternoons of 23 and 24 June. It was sponsored by ExoAnalytic, Piiq Risk Partners, Aon ISB, and Russell Group. The conference was ably chaired by Morten...
At 1526 GMT on 22 May Virgin Galactic achieved its first successful suborbital crewed mission from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Following its release from the WhiteKnightTwo – VMS Eve – carrier aircraft the SpaceShipTwo vehicle – VSS Unity –...