Space Brief 13 Mar 2025
Today's space brief highlights intriguing military satellite developments, new space launch strategies to counteract observation threats, and potential European defense industry advancements.
Launch Date
April 21, 1968
Launch Site
Launch Pad
LC1
Launch Vehicle
Molniya 8K78M
NORAD ID
03211
International Designator
1968-035B
Decay Date
5/11/1968
Name
SL-6 R/B(1)
Alternative Name
Molniya-M No. 82 Blok-I
Type
Status
Owner
RVSN
Country
USSR
Constellation
N/A
Related Satellites
Major Events
N/A
Length
6.7
Diameter
2.7
Span
6.7
Dry Mass
2350
Launch Mass
2350
Shape
Cyl
Radar Cross Section
Unknown
Visual Magnitude
Unknown
Color
Unknown
Material Composition
Unknown
Payload
11S510
Purpose
Unknown
Mission
Unknown
Manufacturer
PROG
Life Expectancy
Unknown
Bus
Blok-I
Configuration
Unknown
Motor
Unknown
Equipment
Unknown
Power System
Unknown
ADCS
Unknown
Transmitter Frequency
Unknown
Learn more about satellites and other related topics.
Today's space brief highlights intriguing military satellite developments, new space launch strategies to counteract observation threats, and potential European defense industry advancements.
FAA grounds SpaceX Starship V3 after the Flight 12 mishap, freezing the launch schedule. Plus a $2.29B Space Force contract and 10,397 working Starlinks.
SpaceX and Amazon Are Playing for Keeps to Control Satellite Broadband and Connect the World. But Is There Room for Both in the Orbit?
SpaceX's Starship V3 targets Flight 12 with an unprecedented self-inspection maneuver, while Delta Air Lines walks away from Starlink inflight Wi-Fi.
NASA conducts critical Artemis 2 rocket fueling test. Saudi Space Agency announces global DebriSolver competition winners. SpaceX and Bezos push orbital data center plans.
SpaceX postpones a Starlink launch, Bell Canada targets Starlink subsidies, and questions around Elon Musk's involvement in a NASA appointment arise.
On April 22, 2010, an Atlas V lifted off from Cape Canaveral carrying a reusable robotic spaceplane so secret that the Air Force would not even confirm its mission duration. It came back 224 days later, lighter, quieter, and more operational than anyone outside Washington had expected. Fifteen years later, the X-37B is still flying, and the military still will not say what it does.
SpaceX targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13 from Starbase, aiming to fix Flight 12 issues and deploy working Starlink satellites.