A spectacular launch from Cape Canaveral just after sunset Monday delivered to orbit Italy’s second satellite in a new generation of COSMO-SkyMed radar remote sensing spacecraft. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket put on a memorable sky show over Florida’s Space Coast during its climb into space and return to Earth. The launch began at 6:11 p.m. …
Photos: SpaceX launches Italian COSMO-SkyMed radar satellite Read More »
The official patch for the NROL-87 mission. Credit: NRO The first launch of the year from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, set for Wednesday afternoon, will send a payload into orbit for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission will deploy a payload for the National Reconnaissance …
SpaceX preps for launch of spy satellite payload from California this week Read More »
Artist’s concept of an Orion spacecraft at the moon. Credit: NASA NASA will announce later this year the four astronauts who will slingshot around the far side of the moon on the Artemis lunar program’s first crew mission, currently scheduled for launch in 2024, the head of the agency’s human space exploration division recently said. …
NASA to name astronauts this year for first Artemis moon mission Read More »
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off Jan. 21 from Cape Canaveral, climbing off of launch pad 41 with thrust from its Russian-made RD-180 main engine and a single Northrop Grumman solid rocket booster to carry two U.S. military satellites into orbit. These images from Spaceflight Now’s photographers show the Atlas 5 rocket’s …
Photos: Atlas 5 rocket flies on ULA’s first mission of 2022 Read More »
Astra’s small satellite launcher was test-fired at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 46 launch pad Saturday. Credit: Astra / John Kraus Astra, a company seeking to carve out a segment of the growing small satellite launch market, test-fired its two-stage rocket at Cape Canaveral on Saturday in preparation for an upcoming demonstration flight for NASA. The engine …
Astra fires up rocket for first time at Cape Canaveral Read More »
An Atlas 5 rocket, boosted by an RD-180 main engine and one strap-on solid rocket motor, lifts off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with a pair of U.S. Space Force tracking satellites. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Two satellites for a once-classified U.S. military program to track and inspect other …
Atlas 5 rocket delivers two military inspector satellites to high-altitude orbit Read More »
Artist’s concept of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Credit: NASA A NASA astronomy satellite that launched Dec. 9 from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX rocket has started observing the X-ray universe, beginning a mission to study the nature of black holes and the super-dense skeletons left behind by exploded stars. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry …
Science mission begins for NASA’s new eye on the X-ray universe Read More »
Cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov work outside the Prichal module Wednesday. Credit: NASA/Mark Vande Hei Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov completed a 7-hour, 11-minute spacewalk Wednesday outside the International Space Station, preparing Russia’s new Prichal module for the arrival of the next Soyuz crew spacecraft in March. Wearing Orlan spacesuits, Shkaplerov and …
Spacewalking cosmonauts activate space station’s newest Russian module Read More »
A Chinese Long March 2D rocket lifts off with the Shiyan 13 satellite. Credit: CASC China launched a Long March 2D rocket Monday with another classified satellite, deploying the spacecraft into a polar orbit on the first of more than 40 Chinese Long March rocket missions planned in 2022. The Long March 2D rocket took …
First Chinese space mission of 2022 rockets into orbit Read More »
Virgin Orbit’s 70-foot-long (21-meter) LauncherOne rocket ignites its liquid-fueled engine after release from the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. Credit: Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit delivered seven small CubeSats for NASA, the U.S. military, Spire, and the Polish company SatRevolution into orbit Thursday with its air-launched rocket after release from a jumbo jet off the coast …
Virgin Orbit celebrates third successful launch in a row Read More »
