Soyuz

Soyuz launches new crew to space station
Three new crewmembers are on their way to the International Space Station after a successful Soyuz launch Dec. 3, less than two months after the previous crewed mission suffered an abort during launch.

Soyuz launches European weather satellite
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a European weather satellite Nov. 6, completing a constellation of polar-orbiting satellites and providing additional reassurance about the reliability of the Soyuz.

Arianespace Soyuz launch schedule unaffected by Russian MS-10 failure
An Arianespace Soyuz mission will launch Nov. 7 without any delays resulting from the failure of a crewed, Russian-operated Soyuz launch earlier this month, Arianespace said Oct. 30.

Roscosmos to complete Soyuz accident investigation this month
The final report into the launch failure that forced the abort of a crewed Soyuz spacecraft is scheduled for completion by the end of the month, the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos announced Oct. 20.

Arianespace assessing impact of crewed Soyuz failure on satellite-launching variant
Arianespace said Oct. 11 it’s too soon to say whether the Soyuz-ST rockets it uses to launch satellites from South America will be grounded following the failure of a Russian Soyuz-FG rocket carrying crew to the International Space Station.

NASA to look at options to keep crew on ISS while Soyuz grounded
With Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft grounded for an indefinite period, NASA managers said Oct. 11 that they will look at ways to keep the current International Space Station crew in orbit for an extended period if needed.

Soyuz demonstrates finesse in flight and failure
Thursday’s dramatic launch abort was the first time a crewed spacecraft bound for the ISS has suffered a mission critical failure. But it was not the first time that a manned Soyuz rocket has been forced to activate its launch abort system.

Soyuz launch to ISS aborted after booster failure; crew safe
An American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut are reported to be in good condition after a problem with their Soyuz rocket minutes after liftoff Oct. 11 forced them to abort their mission to the International Space Station and make an an emergency landing in Kazakhstan.

NASA plays down Soyuz investigation controversy
NASA continues to downplay any concerns about the status of current or future Soyuz missions even as rumors continue in Russian media about the cause of a hole in the Soyuz docked to the station.

ISS leak highlights concerns about orbital debris and station operations
As the crew of the International Space Station worked Aug. 30 to fix, at least temporarily, a minor air leak, the incident illustrated the growing orbital debris risk to the outpost and strains in American and Russian approaches to ISS operations.

ISS crew schedules delay need for commercial crew
New International Space Station crew assignments announced by NASA May 24 will give the agency a little additional schedule margin for getting commercial crew vehicles into service as it continues to study backup options.

OneWeb shifts first launch to year’s end
OneWeb has shifted the debut launch for its satellite megaconstellation to the fourth quarter of the year.

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.