CryoSat-1 was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia on October 8, 2005, using a Rockot launcher. (Rockot is a modified SS-19 rocket which was originally an ICBM designed to deliver nuclear weapons, but which Russia is now eliminating in accordance with the START treaties.) According to Mr. Yuri Bakhvalov, First Deputy Director General of the Khrunichev Space Centre, when the automatic command to switch off the second stage engine did not take effect, the second stage continued to operate until it ran out of fuel and as a consequence the planned separation of the third (Breeze-KM) stage of the rocket which carried the CryoSat satellite did not take place, and would thus have remained attached to the second stage. The upper rocket stages, together with the satellite, probably crashed in the Lincoln Sea. Analysis of the error revealed that it was caused by faults in the programming of the rocket, which had not been detected in simulations.
The liquid iron in Earth’s outer core doesn’t always behave as expected. When it changed direction in an unexplained way, ESA satellites provided data on the direction of flow, helping scientists gain better insight into the dynamics at th…
Amazon Leo, formerly known as Project Kuiper, is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, thi…
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Haiyang 2E (Chinese: "Ocean"), abbreviated HY-2E, is a marine remote sensing satellite of China. The HY-2 series' primary objective is to measure oce…
SXM-11 is the 12th high-powered, digital, audio radio satellite built by Lanteris Space (ex-Maxar, Space System/Loral) for SiriusXM. The SXM-11 satel…
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Synthetic aperture radar satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Note: Mission profile and payload details are TBD. Demonstration mission for SpaceX’s Project Starfall, which aims to mass-produce reentry capsule…
Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.
A batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.