by David Todd | Jun 11, 2015 | Satellites, Seradata News, Technology
The Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail-A solar sail test mission nearly came to a premature end twice before it even had a chance to unravel itself. Two days after its launch on 20 May on an Atlas V, along with the X-37B OTV Mission 4 space plane and...
by David Todd | Jun 8, 2015 | Satellites, SpaceX, Technology
Having previously announced a plan to launch thousands of small spacecraft into a low Earth orbit constellation, SpaceX has announced a plat to launch test satellites. The first two called, Microsats-1a and -1b, will be launched into a 626km near polar orbit in...
by David Todd | Jun 6, 2015 | ESA, Seradata News, SpaceX, Technology
While the European Space Agency’s (ESA) planned Ariane 6 launch vehicle will still be expendable, Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) has realised that Ariane 6 may need elements of reusability if it is to compete with the Falcon 9R of its US arch-rival, SpaceX, in...
by David Todd | May 21, 2015 | Launches, Military space, Technology
At 1505 GMT on 20 May 2015, a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the AFSPC-5 mission for the U.S. Air Force from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral. The AFSPC-5 was the mission name for the fourth flight of the X-37B/OTV (Orbital...
by David Todd | May 19, 2015 | ESA, Launches, Seradata News, Technology
The former head of the European Space Agency (ESA) rocket programme, Antonio Fabrizi, has died after a long illness at the early age of 67. Under Fabrizi’s tenure as ESA Director of launchers, ESA built the Vega small launch vehicle, allowed Soyuz to operate at...
by David Todd | Apr 23, 2015 | Satellites, Science, Seradata News, Technology
Space News (Peter De Selding) reports that two 3U-cubesat spacecraft of 4kg each have been ordered from Clyde Space as precursors to a full constellation of Sustained Ocean Observation for Nanosatellites (SOCON) consellation which will carry sensors built by the...
