Russia launches classified military satelliteA classified Russian military satellite, possibly designed with a new miniature reconnaissance camera, launched Sept. 9 on a single-core version of the Soyuz rocket. The Soyuz 2-1v rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in far northern Russia at 2:59 p.m. EDT (1859 GMT), according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense. Liftoff from Plesetsk occurred at 10:59 p.m. Moscow time. Powered by a kerosene-fueled NK-33 engine, the rocket headed north over the Arctic Ocean, targeting an orbit flying north-south over Earth’s poles. The rocket shed its spent first stage and jettisoned its payload shroud after climbing above the discernible atmosphere, leaving the Soyuz second stage to place its military payload into orbit. Russian defense officials said in a statement that the rocket successfully deployed its payload into the proper orbit. U.S. military tracking data indicated the satellite separated from the rocket in a near-circular polar orbit about 185 miles (300 kilomete
First Starlink shell nearing completion as SpaceX gears up for more launchesSpaceX has been working for over seven years on the planning, production, and deployment of their Starlink satellite internet constellation, with the first regulatory filings dating back to 2014. Now heading into the latter stages of 2021, the company is nearing completion of the initial deployment for the constellation and preparing to expand its capabilities with extended geographic coverage and updated designs of both the satellites and ground equipment in their network.
Hanwha Phasor teams up with American product designer for on-the-move antennaHanwha Phasor, a phased-array antenna maker under South Korea’s conglomerate Hanwha Group seeking its own megaconstellation, has partnered with Wisconsin-based product designer Plexus to develop an ultrathin electronically steered array for satellite communications on the move.
OneWeb and AT&T partner to extend fiberlike coverage across United StatesAT&T has agreed to use OneWeb’s low Earth orbit satellites to extend high-speed broadband services to areas outside its fiber footprint in the United States.
OneWeb Q&A: Fully funded to craft the art of the possibleAs SpaceX charges ahead with more than 1,700 Starlink satellites launched so far for a consumer broadband service, early mover OneWeb and more recent contenders are developing megaconstellations targeting higher paying enterprise and government customers. SpaceNews interviewed OneWeb Neil Masterson about its plans as the operator nears the halfway mark in its constellation deployment.
Bradford’s Comet production moves to LuxembourgBradford Space is updating its Comet electrothermal propulsion technology and transferring production of the small satellite thrusters from the United States to Luxembourg.
Russian cosmonauts begin series of spacewalks to integrate Nauka with the ISSISS Expedition 65 Flight Engineers Oleg Novitsky and Pytor Dubrov have exited the International Space Station for Russian EVA-49, the first in a series of up to 11 spacewalks planned to fully integrate the new Russian Nauka module onto the ISS.
SpaceX adds Bob and Doug multipurpose ships to streamlined recovery fleetThe arrival of Doug, the newest addition to the SpaceX recovery fleet, indicates further consolidation of the company’s rocket recovery operations. Although the launch cadence has slowed as SpaceX prepares the next generation of Starlink satellites, the fleet has been busy working on its next generation of recovery vessels to support what will hopefully be a busy last quarter of 2021.
How AWS is opening up space with the cloudClinton Crosier, a retired U.S. Air Force major general who helped organize the standup of the U.S. Space Force, recently celebrated his anniversary of joining cloud giant AWS to lead its newly created Aerospace and Satellite business team. SpaceNews caught up with Crosier at the Space Symposium in Colorado to learn more about AWS' plans for the global space industry.
Dragonfly Aerospace’s journey from camera specialist to microsatellite builderCurrently more known for the high-resolution cameras it builds than for spacecraft, Dragonfly Aerospace’s plan to move into microsatellite manufacturing got a major boost in April when it was sold to serial entrepreneur Max Polyakov. SpaceNews caught up with Eugene Yakovlev, Dragonfly Aerospace’s chief business officer, for an update on its plans.
White House to revise charter and membership of space council advisory groupThe Biden administration plans to revise both the charter and the membership of the National Space Council’s advisory group to better reflect its priorities.
Phase Four Maxwell to test green propellantPhase Four plans to fuel its Maxwell engine with a green propellant develop by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory under a contract the Southern California startup won Aug. 18 at the U.S. Space Force’s first SpaceWERX Pitch Day.
Chang Zheng 2C lofts experimental Chinese internet satellites into orbitJust over a month after its most recent launch, a Chinese Chang Zheng 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Inner Mongolia, successfully carrying three new Chinese satellites into polar orbits around Earth.
Britain charts a new course for satellite navigationWhen it comes to satellite navigation, the British government has struggled to find its way over the last five years.
Blue Origin lawsuit forces SpaceX, NASA to stop joint work on Starship Moon landerDays after Jeff Bezos space startup Blue Origin sued NASA over its decision to solely award SpaceX a contract to turn Starship...
Exponential growth of cubesats may be tapering offThe use of cubesats has grown dramatically in recent years, but some are wondering if the form factor has reached the limits of its usefulness.
Northrop Grumman has not ruled out another try at national security space launchA year after discontinuing the development of its OmegA rocket, Northrop Grumman is not completely ruling out a future attempt to get back in the national security launch market.
NASA Spacecraft Provides Insight into Asteroid Bennu’s Future OrbitNASA researchers used precision-tracking data from the agency’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft to better understand movements of the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu, significantly reducing uncertainties related to its future orbit, and improving scientists’ ability to determine the total impact probability and predict orbits of other asteroids.
Unseenlabs lines up Vega flight for fourth maritime surveillance satelliteFrench startup Unseenlabs is set to fly its next maritime surveillance nanosatellite on an Arianespace Vega rocket in mid-August, instead of launching with Rocket Lab as it did for the first three BRO spacecraft the venture has launched since mid-2019.
NASA Renews Support of Vertical Lift Research Centers of ExcellenceNASA is continuing its support of university research into technologies for future helicopters and other vertical lift aircraft in partnership with the U.S. Army and Navy.


















