A Chinese Long March 3B rocket blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:46 UTC on Wednesday, carrying a military communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Keeping up the pace in orbital launches towards the end of the year, this marks the sixth flight of the heavy-lift Long March 3B and the 13th mission of the Long March fleet in the last three months.
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Russia’s Kanopus ST ocean surveillance satellite met its untimely end over the Atlantic Ocean in the early hours on Tuesday, re-entering the atmosphere along with its Volga upper stage from which the satellite failed to separate after launch. Orbital data released in the overnight hours showed that a piece of debris detached from the spacecraft and re-entered about an hour prior to the parent object.
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A Russian Proton-M rocket has been rolled to the launch pad on Sunday in preparation for the launch of the second Garpun military communications satellite. Liftoff from Site 81/24 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome is planned for 0:17 UTC on December 10.
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In the wake of Saturday’s Soyuz 2-1v launch with a pair of Russian military satellites, media reports emerged on Sunday, claiming that one of the two satellites failed to separate from the rocket’s Volga upper stage.
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A Russian Soyuz 2-1v rocket blasts off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on December 5, 2015 to embark on its second flight, carrying the Kanopus ST satellite for the Russian Ministry of Defence.
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Russia’s Soyuz 2-1v rocket made its second flight on Saturday, blasting off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 14:09 UTC to deliver the hush-hush Kanopus ST satellite to orbit for the Russian Ministry of Defence.
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The in-orbit break-up of the NOAA 16 weather satellite left a cloud of dozens of debris in orbit, data released by the Joint Space Operations Center indicates. The debris event was detected on November 25 when ground-based radars sensed a number of debris in the vicinity of the NOAA 16 satellite that had been retired since 2014.
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A Russian Soyuz 2-1v rocket is set for liftoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Saturday after its launch was delayed on Friday due to technical issues with the payload. Hidden under the payload fairing of the Soyuz rocket is the Kanopus ST ocean and weather research satellite that is to become a part of the Kanopus program serving a dual role under military and civilian operation.
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The C/NOFS satellite of the United States Air Force re-entered the atmosphere on November 28, 2015 after seven and a half years in orbit.
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China conducted a surprise launch on Thursday, lifting the Yaogan-29 reconnaissance satellite into orbit. According to official Chinese media, the Long March 4C rocket carrying the satellite blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 5:24 a.m. local time on Friday, 21:24 UTC on Thursday.
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China’s Long March 3B rocket delivered Laos’ first Geostationary Communications Satellite to a good Geostationary Transfer Orbit, enabling the spacecraft to begin its climb to GEO for a rapid commissioning phase to be able to begin service in early December.
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The Russian Ministry of Defence is reinforcing its space-based reconnaissance capabilities in the Middle Eastern Region to assist in Russia’s ongoing military activities in Syria.
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Russia’s first EKS Missile Early Warning satellite launched on Tuesday reached a surprising orbit, as evident in tracking data published in the overnight hours. Instead of entering the synonymous Tundra orbit, the Soyuz 2-1B/Fregat-M launch vehicle delivered the ‘Tundra’ spacecraft to a standard Molniya orbit.
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A Russian Soyuz 2-1B rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 6:34 UTC on Tuesday, carrying into orbit the first Tundra EKS Missile Early Warning Satellite, marking the start of the closure of a critical gap in Russia’s early detection system for incoming ballistic missiles.
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The ChinaSat-2C military communications satellite launched by a Chinese Long March 3B rocket last week has arrived in Geostationary Orbit according to tracking data issued by the Joint Space Operations Center.
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China conducted a secretive space launch on Sunday, lofting a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit. The Long March 4B rocket carrying the Yaogan-28 satellite lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 7:06 UTC with no prior notice.
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The test launch of a Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missile wowed observers along California’s coast line Saturday night as a bright, expanding cloud was seen in the sky.
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