Space Brief 2 Feb 2025
Today's highlights include new satellite launches by SpaceX, technical hiccups for an Indian navigation satellite, and insights into the future of satellite servicing.
Launch Date
September 16, 1982
Launch Site
PLMSC
Launch Pad
LC32/2
Launch Vehicle
Tsiklon-3
NORAD ID
50059
International Designator
1982-092SX
Decay Date
3/21/2022
Name
COSMOS 1408 DEB
Alternative Name
deb Kosmos-1408
Type
Status
Owner
ROSK
Country
USSR
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
Unknown
Visual Magnitude
Unknown
Color
Unknown
Material Composition
Unknown
Payload
Unknown
Purpose
Unknown
Mission
Unknown
Manufacturer
YUZHUA
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 highlights include new satellite launches by SpaceX, technical hiccups for an Indian navigation satellite, and insights into the future of satellite servicing.
In a landmark achievement, SpaceX celebrated its 500th Falcon 9 launch by deploying 27 Starlink satellites while simultaneously advancing its reuse strategy with record-breaking milestones.
SpaceX experiences a setback with Starship Flight 8 while continuing its Starlink deployment efforts with a successful launch from California.
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.
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.
On April 27, 1961, a Scout rocket lifted a 37-kilogram NASA satellite into orbit from Wallops Island carrying the first serious instrument for detecting cosmic gamma rays. Explorer 11 operated for seven months before its tape recorder failed. In that time it registered 22 gamma-ray photons - a pitiful number by modern standards, but enough to launch an entire branch of astronomy.
Today's edition covers China's latest launches in their classified satellite programs, ongoing discussions in the U.S. Senate on missile defense, and the ever-escalating space debris crisis threatening national security.
FCC clears Reflect Orbital's first satellite to bounce sunlight into nighttime zones, despite pushback from astronomers concerned about orbital streaking and wildlife impacts.