Space Brief 12 May 2025
Today's brief covers key industry movements in space logistics and satellite production, including Rocket Lab's new U.S. Air Force contract, Sierra Space's strides in GPS technology, and more.
Launch Date
August 18, 1987
Launch Site
PLMSC
Launch Pad
LC32/1
Launch Vehicle
Tsiklon-3
NORAD ID
25177
International Designator
1987-068C
Decay Date
5/1/1998
Name
SL-14 DEB
Alternative Name
deb S5M
Type
Status
Owner
VKSR
Country
Russia
Constellation
N/A
Related Satellites
Major Events
N/A
Length
0
Diameter
0
Span
0
Dry Mass
0
Launch Mass
0
Shape
N/A
Radar Cross Section
3.2319
Visual Magnitude
Unknown
Color
Unknown
Material Composition
Unknown
Payload
Unknown
Purpose
Unknown
Mission
Unknown
Manufacturer
Unknown
Life Expectancy
Unknown
Bus
Unknown
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 key industry movements in space logistics and satellite production, including Rocket Lab's new U.S. Air Force contract, Sierra Space's strides in GPS technology, and more.
SpaceX continues to make waves with record launches and emerging challenges in its lunar endeavors. A new launch site on the West Coast promises to ramp up capacity, even as the Falcon 9 prepares for its eventual retirement.
SpaceX successfully launched 27 Starlink satellites while facing new competition for its satellite programs, including potential alternatives for the Space Force.
Pentagon's DIU seeks commercial partners for GEO spy satellites. SpaceX unveils space traffic management system. Bahamas rocket landings resume. GPS III falls short in modern warfare.
Forty years ago today, Challenger lifted off LC-39A on a science mission that nobody outside Morton-Thiokol would call dangerous. Years later, after the orbiter and seven other astronauts were gone, investigators looked at the recovered boosters from STS-51B and realized the crew had come within a fraction of a second of dying first. This is the story of the launch that should have been a warning.
At 7:33 on the morning of 18 June 1983, a 32-year-old astrophysicist named Sally Ride rode Challenger off Pad 39A and became the first American woman in space. She got there two decades after the Soviets, and only after months of being asked whether spaceflight would damage her reproductive organs and whether she planned to cry.
SpaceX gears up for its 11th Starship test flight, while Starlink expands connectivity through partnerships with T-Mobile, enhancing app functionality beyond cellular coverage.
SpaceX targets a $75B IPO valuing the company at over $1.75 trillion, while Falcon 9 chases its 200th drone ship landing at Vandenberg.