December 2014 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Proton rocket on track for launch with European telecom satellite

December 26, 2014 Stephen Clark

A commercial broadcast satellite will blast off from Kazakhstan on Saturday aboard a Proton rocket to transmit television, multimedia and broadband services across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

NASA spacecraft to get bonus time studying Mercury

December 26, 2014 Stephen Clark

Running low on fuel after completing the first global survey of Mercury, NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft could get an extra month of time at the solar system’s innermost planet thanks to a crafty new way of using helium gas to temporarily forestall the mission’s end next year.

Russian Earth observing satellite ready for launch

December 25, 2014 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket is scheduled for launch Friday with Russia’s Resurs P2 satellite, a civilian-operated spacecraft with a sharp-eyed camera to collect high-resolution imagery for Russian government authorities and international agencies.

Soyuz rocket lifts off with Russian eavesdropping satellite

December 25, 2014 Stephen Clark

A satellite to collect intelligence for the Russian government launched Thursday on top of a Soyuz rocket and reached orbit a few minutes after liftoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome about 500 miles north of Moscow.

Photos and video: Angara 5’s thunderous liftoff

December 23, 2014 Stephen Clark

Russia’s new Angara 5 rocket, the biggest Russian launcher since the end of the Cold War, made a pre-dawn blastoff from the wintry Plesetsk Cosmodrome on Tuesday on a successful first flight. See video and photos of the fiery liftoff from the snowy launch pad.

Russia’s Angara 5 rocket launched on successful maiden flight

December 23, 2014 Stephen Clark

A new Russian rocket designed as a successor to the workhorse Proton booster lifted off Tuesday on a maiden test flight that could signify Russia’s shift away from launching satellites at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Scientific riches await Philae comet lander, if it wakes up

December 23, 2014 Stephen Clark

Optimistic Europe’s hibernating Philae comet lander can be revived, mission controllers plan to try and contact the spacecraft as soon as January as the search narrows for the probe’s final resting place — a site within arm’s reach of pristine ice and organic matter ripe for analysis if the mission gets a new lease on life.

Video: Orion launch replays

December 23, 2014 Justin Ray

Multiple different camera angles of the Delta 4-Heavy rocket blasting off with NASA’s Orion capsule for Exploration Flight Test No. 1 on Dec. 5

Photos: Navy satellite shrouded for launch

December 23, 2014 Justin Ray

The sophisticated U.S. Navy mobile communications satellite to launch Jan. 20 has been wrapped up in the Atlas 5 rocket’s nose cone for the holidays

Ratchet wrench ’emailed’ to space station

December 22, 2014 Stephen Clark

A future where mission control can digitally dispatch tools, spare parts and other vital materials to far-flung space crews took one giant leap toward reality when a 3D printer aboard the International Space Station produced a ratchet wrench on demand.