Soyuz

NASA may extend space station missions to address potential commercial crew delays
NASA is in discussions with its Russian counterparts about extending some upcoming space station missions as a way to buy more time for development of commercial crew vehicles.


Insurance firm paid Astro Digital’s claim for lost cubesats, sources said
An insurance company paid Astro Digital’s claim for the loss of two cubesats sent into orbit on a Russian Soyuz rocket after the Earth imaging and analysis company proved the failure stemmed from a launch problem, according to two space industry executives.

O3b MEO constellation grows to 16 with latest Soyuz launch
A Soyuz rocket from Arianespace successfully delivered four telecommunications satellites into medium Earth orbit for fleet operator SES.

Russia looks past Soyuz-2 failure to Soyuz-5
Try as they might, the Russian space program is having a hard time sustaining a positive news cycle. For every small step forward, it seems they take one giant leap back. Budget cuts, program delays, and regular launch failures dog Russia’s space industry at every turn — making small victories and promises of glories still to come harder and harder to swallow.

Soyuz satellites feared lost in launch failure
Nineteen satellites launched on a Soyuz rocket Nov. 28 are now widely assumed to be lost, with one of the companies involved in the mission stating that the launch was a failure.

Contact lost with satellites after Soyuz launch
Controllers have been unable to contact a weather satellite launched on a Soyuz rocket from the country’s new spaceport Nov. 28, raising fears of a launch failure.

Soyuz capsule suffered partial depressurization during April landing
A Soyuz spacecraft returning three people to Earth in April experienced a partial loss of pressure during the final stages of its descent, but did not put the crew’s lives in danger.

Astro Digital announces first cubesats launched on Soyuz failed
Astro Digital has confirmed that two satellites it launched as secondary payloads on a Soyuz rocket in July have failed, joining several other satellites that mysteriously failed on that mission.

Arianespace wins contracts for O3b and SES-17 satellites
Satellite operator SES has selected Arianespace to launch a fifth set of O3b satellites as well as a large geostationary orbit communications satellite, the companies announced Sept. 12.

Glavkosmos denies launch vehicle caused cubesat failures
An executive with the company that provided launch services for more than 70 satellites launched on a Soyuz in July said there is no evidence that the failure of several of those satellites was caused by the rocket.

Soyuz launch customers search for cause of cubesat failures
Dauria Aerospace has been unable to establish contact with the two MKA-N cubesats launched in July aboard a Soyuz rocket.SpaceNews has learned that two additional cubesats are not responding to commands from their operators; two others are not in their intended orbits.

Soyuz launches 73 satellites
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched 73 satellites, including spacecraft for four companies’ cubesat constellations, July 14.


Rideshare demand grows despite development of small launch vehicles
Despite the ongoing development of a fleet of small launch vehicles, both launch providers and customers continue to see demand for flying small satellites as secondary payloads on larger rockets.

Glavkosmos seeks to become a major smallsat launch provider
Russian company Glavkosmos is seeking to become a major player in the small satellite launch market, with plans to launch up to 120 satellites as secondary payloads on three Soyuz missions this year.