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“RD-180”
The Dmitry Daily: Rogozin Again Threatens Existence of International Space Station if U.S. Remains Hostile to Russian Invasion of Ukraine

This report from the Kremlin-backed RT news channel has extensive comments from Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin, including a threat to end the International Space Station project. He said he didn’t expect it would happen because he beliefs the U.S. will cool down over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Rogozin has also been busy on Twitter. He tweeted a short video showing workers taping over national flags painted on a Soyuz […]

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  • March 3, 2022
OneWeb Suspends Satellite Launches From Baikonur
Soyuz rocket launches 36 OneWeb satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Dec. 27, 2021. (Credit: Arianespace)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

The Friday launch of 36 OneWeb broadband satellites aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome is officially canceled as the London-based company refused demands from the Russian government amid growing international tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The Board of OneWeb has voted to suspend all launches from Baikonur,” the company said in a one-sentence statement.

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  • March 3, 2022
Russia Holds OneWeb Satellites Hostage; No Launch Unless Company & British Government Meet Demands
Vladimir Putin receives a briefing from Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin. (Credit: Office of the Russian President)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

In what is likely the first hostage drama involving communication satellites, the head of the Russian space program has demanded that the British government divest its shares in OneWeb and that the broadband satellite operator not provide services to foreign militaries in order to launch a new batch of spacecraft. The move comes amid growing tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed on the country by western nations.

Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin tweeted that unless these demands are met, Russia will refuse to launch 36 OneWeb satellites that sit atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket currently on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch is scheduled for Saturday morning Moscow time.

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  • March 2, 2022
United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches Advanced Weather Satellite GOES-T
A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-T mission for NOAA and NASA lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 4:38 p.m. EST on March 1. (Credit: ULA)

ULA and heritage vehicles have launched every GOES spacecraft

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., March 1, 2022 (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-T spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA lifted off on March 1 at 4:38 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. To date ULA has launched 149 times with 100 percent mission success.

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  • March 1, 2022
United Launch Alliance Set to Launch GOES-T Mission for NOAA and NASA
Illustration of the GOES-T spacecraft with Earth’s reflection. (Credits: Lockheed Martin)

Essential satellite for the nation’s most advanced weather observation and climate monitoring system

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., Feb. 26, 2022 (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is in final preparations to launch the GOES-T mission for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. The launch, managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) based at Kennedy Space Center, is on track for March 1 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Launch is planned for 4:38 p.m. EST. The live launch broadcast begins at 4:00 p.m. EST on March 1 at  www.ulalaunch.com.

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  • February 27, 2022
United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches Critical Space Surveillance Mission for U.S. Space Force
A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the USSF-8 mission for the U.S. Space Force lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 2:00 p.m. EST on Jan. 21. (Credit: United Launch Alliance)

Atlas V launched Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) satellites, GSSAP-5 and GSSAP-6, to a near-geosynchronous orbit

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., January 21, 2022 (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the USSF-8 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command lifted off on Jan. 21 at 2:00 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. To date ULA has launched 148 times with 100 percent mission success.

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  • January 22, 2022
ULA Atlas V to Launch USSF-8 Mission in Support of National Security on Friday
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches on the Department of Defense’s Space Test Program 3 (STP-3) mission from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. The mission’s Space Test Program Satellite-6 (STPSat-6) spacecraft hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) and the NASA-U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Ultraviolet Spectro-Coronagraph (UVSC) Pathfinder. (Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., Jan. 19, 2022 (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is in final preparations to launch the USSF-8 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. The launch is on track for Jan. 21, 2022 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Launch is planned for 2:00 p.m. EST. The live launch broadcast begins at 1:40 p.m. EST at www.ulalaunch.com.

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  • January 20, 2022
United Launch Alliance to Launch STP-3 Mission in Support of National Security
An ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the SBIRS GEO Flight 5 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center lifts off from Space Launch Complex-41at 1:37 p.m. EDT on May 18. (Credit; United Launch Alliance)

Mission will be a direct injection to Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO) and longest mission to date

CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla., Dec. 2, 2021 (ULA PR) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket is in final preparations to launch the Space Test Program (STP)-3 mission for the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. The launch is on track for Dec. 5, 2021 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Launch is planned for 4:04 a.m. EST. The live launch broadcast begins at 3:30 a.m. EST at www.ulalaunch.com.

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  • December 3, 2021
GAO: Blue Origin BE-4 Engine Technical Issues Threaten ULA’s Vulcan Booster Schedule
BE-4 engine firing (Credit: Blue Origin)

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Technical issues related to related to “the igniter and booster capabilities” with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine could delay the maiden flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur booster scheduled for late this year, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

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  • June 21, 2021
Last Delivery of Russian RD-180 Engines Under Current Contract for ULA’s Atlas V Launch Vehicle

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — On Wednesday, April 14, 2021, at the Academician V.P. Glushko (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), six RD-180 engines were handed over to American customers. Representatives of the companies Pratt & Whitney, United Launch Alliance, EP AMROSS signed the forms for the engines. For two weeks prior to the transfer of products, representatives of these companies, as well as NASA and the US Air Force, performed an […]

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  • April 18, 2021