On December 6, 2020 at 03:58 UTC the "Chang Zheng-3B/G5” (Long March-3B/G5) rocket-carrier was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The rocket orbited the “Gaofen-14” Earth-observation satellite for stereo mapping.

On 25^th November 2020, the Council of the Royal Philatelic Society London agreed that Igor Rodin should be elected a Fellow of the Society.

In UK, Fellows are often the highest grade of membership of many association or societies. Fellowships of this type can be awarded as a title of honor in their own right.

On December 5, 2020, Japanese capsule carrying asteroid rocks landed near Woomera, Australia after six-year mission.

On December 3, 2020 at 01:14 UTC the “Soyuz-2.1B” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket orbited the three “Gonets-M” communication satellites. Russian government ministries and civilian authorities use the “Gonets-M” satellites to relay secure messages between mobile terminals and fixed operators. Gonets means “messenger” in Russian. The satellites are designed for five-year missions.

On December 2, 2020 at 01:33 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-ST-A” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The rocket equipped with the "Fregat-M” booster orbited the “Falcon Eye-2” European-built military reconnaissance satellite for the United Arab Emirates. Designed for a 10-year mission, the Falcon Eye 2 satellite will collect high-resolution images for downlink to the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. With global coverage, the spacecraft gives the UAE an independent source of space-based surveillance data for use in military campaigns, in ... Read more »

On December 1, 2020 at 15:13 UTC, the Chinese “Chang’e-5” sample return probe landed on moon in Oceanus Procellarum, or Ocean of Storms, region in the northern hemisphere of the near side of the moon, east of a volcanic plateau named Mons Rümker.

On November 29, 2020 at 07:25 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The rocket orbited the Japanese Data Relay Satellite-1 (JDRS-1).

On November 25, 2020 at 02:13 UTC the " Falcon-9” rocket-carrier was launched Cape Canaveral launch site of US Air Force. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited 60 more satellites for the “Starlink” project

On November 23, 2020 at 20:30 UTC the Chang Zheng-5 (Long March-5) rocket-carrier was launched from Wenchang Satellite Launch Center (WSLC), located in Wenchang on Hainan Island off China’s southern coastline. The rocket orbited the “Chang’e-5” space probe toward the Moon on a 23-day mission attempting to return lunar samples to Earth for the first time in 44 years.

On November 21, 2020 at 17:17 UTC the "Falcon-9” rocket-carrier was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 30th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the “Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich” oceanography satellite.

On November 20, 2020 at 02:20 UTC, the “Electron-KS” rocket-carrier was launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, the commercial spaceport located on the Mahia Peninsula on the eastern coast of New Zealand's North Island. The rocket orbited 30 different small satellites.

On November 18, 2020, Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov performed the extra vehicle activities (EVA – spacewalk). The spacewalkers used the “Poisk” docking compartment as an airlock for the first time to begin preparing the nearly identical Russian “Pirs” module for removal next year. A new laboratory module will be docked in its place later. The “Poisk” module was launched almost exactly 11 years ago, on November 10, 2009, and was attached to the “Zvezda” module’s upper port two days later. It has been used as a docking port for unpiloted “Progress” cargo space vehicles and “Soyuz” crew ferry spaceships many times but never as an airlock. The EVA lasted 6 hours and 47 minutes. It was the 41st EVA for both ... Read more »