Satellite News

As many as three Progress MS cargo spacecraft are planned to be launched to the ISS (International Space Station) from the Baikonur spaceport this year, Roskosmos said.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 2D; Payload: Tianhui 4; Date: 29 December 2021, 1113 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The cartography satellite was placed into a Sun-synchronous orbit.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 3B/E; Payload: TJSW-9 [Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing 9]; Date: 29 December 2021, 1643 UTC; Launch site: Xichang Satellite Launch Center, China. The communications technology test satellite was deployed into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Iran said Thursday it launched a rocket with a satellite carrier bearing three research devices into space, though it’s unclear if any of the objects entered orbit around the Earth.

After a successful launch of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope on 25 December, and completion of two mid-course correction manoeuvres, the Webb team has analysed its initial trajectory and determined the observatory should have enough propellant to allow support of science operations in orbit for significantly more than a 10-year lifetime (the minimum baseline for the mission is five years).

Related posts:
Kosmotras to stop Dnepr cluster launches
HYLAS to fly Ariane 5, not Falcon 9
Proton M lifts off with radio satellite onboard
Ariane 5 reaches launch zone

Rocket: Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat; Payload: 36 OneWeb satellites; Date: 27 December 2021, 1310 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The mission lasted three hours and 45 minutes. The 36 satellites were deployed during nine separation sequences, at an altitude of 450 km.

The first launch of OneWeb communications satellites in 2022 is scheduled for February from the Guiana Space Center, according to Dmitry Loskutov, CEO of Glavkosmos.

Rocket: Chang Zheng 4C; Payload: ZY-1 02E [Ziyuan-1 02E]; Date: 26 December 2021, 0311 UTC; Launch site: Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, China. The satellite, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology, will operate in a Sun-synchronous orbit.