Space Brief 21 Jul 2025
Today's brief covers SpaceX's latest Starlink launch, fascinating exoplanet discoveries, and strategic lunar developments by China and South Korea.
Launch Date
May 21, 1988
Launch Site
Launch Pad
LC200/39
Launch Vehicle
Proton-K/DM-2
NORAD ID
19166
International Designator
1988-043D
Decay Date
5/22/1988
Name
SL-12 R/B(1)
Alternative Name
Proton-K 348-01 Stage 3
Type
Status
Owner
RVSN
Country
USSR
Constellation
N/A
Related Satellites
Major Events
N/A
Length
6.5
Diameter
4.2
Span
6.5
Dry Mass
4185
Launch Mass
4185
Shape
Cyl
Radar Cross Section
22.2
Visual Magnitude
Unknown
Color
Unknown
Material Composition
Unknown
Payload
8S812
Purpose
Unknown
Mission
Unknown
Manufacturer
ZIKH
Life Expectancy
Unknown
Bus
8S812
Configuration
Unknown
Motor
Unknown
Equipment
Unknown
Power System
Unknown
ADCS
Unknown
Transmitter Frequency
Unknown
Learn more about satellites and other related topics.
Today's brief covers SpaceX's latest Starlink launch, fascinating exoplanet discoveries, and strategic lunar developments by China and South Korea.
Today's Space Brief focuses on multi-billion dollar contracts for missile-tracking satellites, developments in optical nuclear clock research, and innovative drone projects for military collaboration.
Pentagon to order 30,000 attritable drones within days via Gauntlet competition. Meanwhile, Sierra Space closes $550M Series C funding round for national security spaceplane applications.
Starship V3 targets an April 2026 debut, the ride for next-gen Starlink V3 satellites. Fleet stands at 10,062 working of 11,587 launched.
Today's Space Brief highlights Globalstar's new military focus, technological innovations in the Army's tactical systems, and a deeper look at key military satellite communications developments.
Today's highlights include the destruction of ABL Space Systems' rocket due to engine leaks, Firefly Aerospace's lunar lander pre-launch tests, and insights on U.S. military's space domain awareness enhancements.
Landsat 7 launched on April 15, 1999, designed to last five years. It operated for twenty-five, survived a failure that destroyed a fifth of every image it took, and became part of the longest continuous record of Earth's surface ever assembled. Then they made the data free.
Exactly 64 years ago today, Scott Carpenter became the fourth American to orbit the Earth aboard Aurora 7. His five-hour flight produced new science, a tense reentry, and 39 minutes of silence in which the country wondered if it had just lost its astronaut.