December 2014 – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Milestone Proton launch opens queue of grounded commercial missions

December 15, 2014 Stephen Clark

A Russian communications satellite lifted off from a snow-covered launch pad in Kazakhstan on Monday, marking the 400th flight of a Proton rocket and the launcher’s first commercial mission in 10 months.

Photos: Proton rocket blasts off with Yamal 401 satellite

December 15, 2014 Stephen Clark

An International Launch Services Proton rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday with the Yamal 401 satellite, a 3.3-ton spacecraft to beam C-band and Ku-band communications services across Russia.

NASA, JAXA reach asteroid sample-sharing agreement

December 15, 2014 Stephen Clark

Scientists from the United States and Japan plan to share asteroid specimens from the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa 2 sample return missions under an agreement signed by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Video: Orion flight highlights

December 15, 2014 Justin Ray

Watch highlights from Orion’s Dec. 5 launch aboard a Delta 4-Heavy rocket as compiled for broadcast on NASA TV.

NASA gets budget hike in spending bill passed by Congress

December 14, 2014 Stephen Clark

NASA will receive $18 billion in the federal government’s 2015 budget passed by the U.S. Senate on Saturday, winning nearly all the funds the agency says it needs this year to develop commercial space capsules to fly astronauts to the International Space Station by the end of 2017.

Live coverage: 400th Proton rocket takes off with Russian satellite

December 14, 2014 Stephen Clark

An International Launch Services Proton rocket launched at 7:16 p.m. EST Sunday (0016 GMT Monday) with the Yamal 401 communications satellite for Gazprom Space Systems. The rocket’s Breeze M upper stage will deploy the spacecraft into geostationary orbit about nine hours after liftoff.

Photos: Atlas launch seen from pad cameras

December 14, 2014 Justin Ray

Views of the Dec. 12 launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from up-close remote cameras placed near the booster’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Record-setting Atlas launches with new Centaur engine

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket put on a display of power, sound and light Friday evening at Vandenberg Air Force Base in launching a clandestine national security payload, then successfully debuted a new upper stage engine as it flew over the horizon.

Photos: Atlas launch seen from press site

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket unleashed two million pounds of thrust at 7:19 p.m. PST (10:19 p.m. EST) on Dec. 12 to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the NROL-35 mission. See photos of the launch from the press viewing site.

Photos: Gantry retracted from Atlas 5

December 13, 2014 Justin Ray

The 8-million-pound mobile service tower is retracted from around the Atlas 5 rocket, revealing the 20-story-tall vehicle for liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.