by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

During the first seven months of the year, five new satellite launch vehicles from Europe, China, Russia and South Korea flew successfully for the first time. As impressive as that is, it was a mere opening act to a busy period that could see at least 20 additional launchers debut around the world.

BENGALURU, India (ISRO PR) — The GSLV-F10/EOS-03 Mission lifted-off normally from Sriharikota on August 12,2021 at 0543 hrs after a smooth countdown of 26 hours. In the flight, the performance of the first stage (GS1), the strap-on stages (L40) and the second stage (GS2) were satisfactory and in accordance with the pre-flight predictions. However, the onboard computer aborted the mission at 307 seconds into the flight leading to mission failure.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

A new chairman has taken over the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a crucial time as the space agency continues to struggles with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the challenge of becoming only the fourth nation capable of launching astronauts into orbit.

SRIHARIKOTA, India — The GSLV-F10 launch took place on Thursday, August 12, 2021 at 0543 IST as scheduled. Performance of first and second stages was normal. However, cryogenic upper stage ignition did not happen due to technical anomaly. The mission couldn’t be accomplished as intended. EOS-03 was a state-of-the-art agile Earth observation satellite which was to have been placed in a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit by GSLV-F10. The satellite was to have […]

Due to a rise in COVID-19 cases, ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre has suspended all regular activities for the time being. The New Indian Express reports: “In view of the considerable number of Covid-19 positive cases in Shar and Sullurpeta housing colonies, it is essential to trace the primary contacts, test and isolate them to avoid further spread. All the office premises need to be fumigated and sanitised wherever the […]

Long March 2F rocket in flight carrying Shenzhou-11. (Credit: CCTV)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The year 2018 was the busiest one for launches in decades. There were a total of 111 completely successful launches out of 114 attempts. It was the highest total since 1990, when 124 launches were conducted.

China set a new record for launches in 2018. The nation launched 39 times with 38 successes in a year that saw a private Chinese company fail in the country’s first ever orbital launch attempt.

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GSLV Mk. II booster launches the GSAT-7A satellite. (Credit: ISRO)

SRIHARIKOTA, India (ISRO PR) — Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-F11) successfully launched the communication satellite GSAT-7A from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota today.

The GSLV-F11 lifted off from the Second Launch Pad at SDSC at 04:10 pm IST, carrying 2250 kg GSAT-7A and about 19 minutes later, injected GSAT-7A into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 170.8 km x 39127 km which is very close to the intended orbit.

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This current launch schedule for this week. Check for updates at https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/ December 18 Falcon 9 Payload: GPS 3-01 navigation satellite Launch Window: 9:11-9:35 a.m. EST (1411-1435 GMT) Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Webcast: www.spacex.com SpaceX’s 21st and final launch of 2018. New Shepard Payloads: NASA microgravity experiments Launch Time: 9:30 a.m. EST/8:30 a.m. CST (1430 GMT) Launch Site: Van Horn, Texas Webcast: www.blueorigin.com Tenth New Shepard […]

MAHENDRAGIRI, India (ISRO PR) — Today (July 15, 2018), a high thrust version of the Vikas Engine was successfully qualified through a ground test for a duration of 195 seconds at ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC), Mahendragiri, Tamilnadu. Vikas Engine is the workhorse liquid rocket engine powering the second stage of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), second stage and the four strap on stages of Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and […]

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket carrying the NROL-47 mission lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. (Credit: ULA)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The world’s launch providers were extremely busy in the first half of 2018, with China and the United States battling for the lead.

There with 55 orbital launches through the end of June, which amounted to a launch every 3.29 days or 79 hours. The total is more than half the 90 launches attempted in 2017. With approximately 42 missions scheduled for the last six months of the year, the total could reach 97. (more…)