March 2015 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Space station crewmen head off on 342-day mission

March 28, 2015 William Harwood

A workhorse Soyuz booster thundered to life and climbed into a dark Kazakh sky Friday, carrying NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko on a four-orbit voyage to the International Space Station to kick off a marathon 342-day mission, the longest flight ever attempted by an American.

Delta 4 rocket evolving to upgraded main engine

March 27, 2015 Justin Ray

When the next Delta 4 rocket flies in July, as well as all future ones to come, the enhanced RS-68A main engine will power the boosters off the launch pad.

Managers confident ahead of critical launch for Galileo navigation system

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Confident in technical and procedural fixes implemented since a launch in August left two Galileo satellites in the wrong orbit, officials with Europe’s navigation program say Friday’s liftoff of two identical craft on a Soyuz rocket will try to fill the same slots in the fleet as targeted by last year’s failed mission.

Live coverage: Crew blasts off on record-setting space mission

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Three space station residents launched Friday from Kazakhstan, kicking off a nearly yearlong expedition to help plan for future voyages to Mars. The crew blasted off on a Soyuz rocket heading for the International Space Station at 1943 GMT (3:43 p.m. EDT). Docking occurred at 0136 GMT (9:36 p.m. EDT).

Live coverage: Soyuz lifts off from French Guiana

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from a jungle spaceport in South America with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation network. The four-hour launch sequence began with blastoff at 2146 GMT (5:46 p.m. EDT).

One-year space expedition starts with 18-hour workday

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two veteran spacemen embarking on a marathon yearlong mission in orbit must first sprint through a busy workday Friday — suiting up for liftoff, climbing into their Soyuz spaceship, then flying to the International Space Station.

Vega wins contract to launch Peruvian military satellite

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Arianespace will pair a Peruvian military reconnaissance satellite with a package of four commercial Skybox Earth imaging spacecraft on a Vega rocket launch in 2016.

Two more options added to ULA’s rocket naming poll

March 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

Fans of classical mythology and the fictional Star Trek universe can vote for two new candidates as the name of United Launch Alliance’s next generation rocket, with Vulcan and Zeus joining three other options in an online poll revealed earlier this week.

Soyuz/Galileo launch timeline

March 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system.

Kelly, Kornienko braced for marathon mission

March 26, 2015 William Harwood

Shuttle veteran Scott Kelly first heard about NASA’s plans to send an astronaut to the International Space Station for nearly a full year shortly after he completed his third space flight in 2011, a 159-day stay aboard the orbital lab complex.