News

Arianespace breaks payload mass record on final Ariane 5 launch before Webb

Ariane 5, Mission Reports, News, X Home Page Highlight / By

An Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the Guiana Space Center with the SES 17 and Syracuse 4A communications satellites. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/S. Martin A European Ariane 5 rocket fired into space Saturday night from French Guiana with a commercial broadband satellite for SES and a French military telecom craft, setting a new payload mass record …

Arianespace breaks payload mass record on final Ariane 5 launch before Webb Read More »

Under watchful eye of NASA, teams prep for final Ariane 5 flight before Webb

Ariane 5, Mission Reports, News, X Home Page Highlight / By

An Ariane 5 rocket on its launch pad Thursday in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon Arianespace is counting down to the blastoff of an Ariane 5 rocket Saturday night from French Guiana, the final flight of Europe’s workhorse launcher before NASA and the European Space Agency entrust it to launch the $10 billion James …

Under watchful eye of NASA, teams prep for final Ariane 5 flight before Webb Read More »

Musk says Starship may be ready for orbital launch next month, but FAA review continues

Mission Reports, News, X Sidebar / By

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of SpaceX, said Friday the company’s huge new Starship rocket could be ready for its first orbital test launch from South Texas as soon as November, but the schedule comes with two big uncertainties that may push the launch to next year. “If all goes well, Starship will be ready …

Musk says Starship may be ready for orbital launch next month, but FAA review continues Read More »

NASA targets February launch for Artemis 1 moon mission

Mission Reports, News, Space Launch System, X Home Page Highlight / By

The 74,000-pound Orion spacecraft was lifted inside the Vehicle Assembly Building this week, and mounted to the top of the Space Launch System. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux With NASA’s powerful new 322-foot-tall moon rocket fully stacked at Kennedy Space Center, managers said Friday that Feb. 12 is the soonest the unpiloted Artemis 1 mission could blast …

NASA targets February launch for Artemis 1 moon mission Read More »

Images: Atlas 5 blasts off with NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission

Atlas 5, Mission Reports, News, X Sidebar / By

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket streaked into space from Cape Canaveral before dawn Oct. 16 with NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission, a robotic probe to explore a group of enigmatic asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter in its orbit around the sun. The Atlas 5 launcher, powered by a Russian RD-180 main engine, lifted off …

Images: Atlas 5 blasts off with NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission Read More »

Ariane 5 launch delayed for more ground systems checks

Ariane 5, Mission Reports, News, X Home Page Highlight / By

An Ariane 5 rocket on its launch pad Thursday night in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon Arianespace delayed the launch from French Guiana of a European Ariane 5 rocket with two geostationary communications satellites Friday to conduct more checks of ground support equipment at the spaceport. The mission, set to loft payloads for SES …

Ariane 5 launch delayed for more ground systems checks Read More »

Progress cargo ship relocated to new module at International Space Station

Mission Reports, News, Space Station, X Home Page Highlight / By

The Progress MS-17 spacecraft approaches the International space Station for docking Friday. Credit: Roscosmos A Russian Progress supply ship docked with the new Nauka lab module at the International Space Station Friday, completing a 29-hour free flight after detaching from a different port at the complex. The relocation positions the Progress spacecraft to assist with …

Progress cargo ship relocated to new module at International Space Station Read More »

South Korean rocket fails to reach orbit on inaugural test flight

Mission Reports, News, X Home Page Highlight / By

South Korea’s first domestically produced satellite launcher failed to reach orbit on its inaugural test flight Thursday. A preliminary review of data indicated the rocket’s third stage shut down early, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said. The Nuri rocket lifted off from the Naro Space Center, built on an island nearly 300 miles (500 kilometers) …

South Korean rocket fails to reach orbit on inaugural test flight Read More »

Rocket Lab’s next launch will include booster recovery experiment

Mission Reports, News, X Sidebar / By

A view inside Rocket Lab’s factory in New Zealand, where Electron boosters are lined up in an assembly facility. The rockets with red markings are tagged for recovery missions. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab said this week that its next mission, set for launch Nov. 10 after delays caused by a coronavirus lockdown in New …

Rocket Lab’s next launch will include booster recovery experiment Read More »

Stacking of Orion spacecraft caps assembly of first Artemis moon rocket

Mission Reports, News, Space Launch System, X Home Page Highlight / By

The Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 mission is lowered on top of its Space Launch System rocket Oct. 20 inside High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building. Credit: NASA/Frank Michaux Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center worked overnight Wednesday to tighten 360 bolts connecting the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis 1 moon mission …

Stacking of Orion spacecraft caps assembly of first Artemis moon rocket Read More »