August 2015 – Spaceflight Now

Soyuz booster in position for crew launch

August 31, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz booster rolled out of a hangar at the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome and rode a rail car to its launch pad Monday, setting up for Wednesday’s launch with a three-man crew hailing from Russia, Denmark and Kazakhstan.

Distant ice ball to become farthest object ever visited

August 31, 2015 Stephen Clark

A frozen fragment left over from the formation of the solar system is set to become the most distant object ever explored by a human-built space probe, scientists working on the New Horizons mission said Friday.

Atlas 5 rocket travels to launch pad for Wednesday flight

August 31, 2015 Justin Ray

Delivering two-and-a-half million pounds of ground-shaking thrust at takeoff, more than any rocket flying from Cape Canaveral these days, the mighty vehicle was rolled from its assembly building to the launch pad Monday for Wednesday’s early morning blastoff.

Photos: Proton rocket soars from Baikonur

August 31, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Proton rocket returned to flight Friday, blasting off for the first time since a May launch mishap. Relive Friday’s launch with a video replay and photos of the daytime liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Atlas/MUOS 4 launch timeline

August 30, 2015 Justin Ray

This is the ascent timeline to be followed by the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in launching the Mobile User Objective System satellite No. 4 on Wednesday at 5:59 a.m. EDT.

OTD…Aug. 30 and STS-8 and STS-41D

August 30, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1983…Challenger lifts off on the first nighttime shuttle launch…and Discovery launches on her inaugural Spaceflight

Proton back in action with successful launch for Inmarsat

August 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Proton rocket returned to flight Friday with the successful deployment of a powerful new communications satellite for Inmarsat of London in the workhorse rocket’s first flight since a launch failure in May.

Tropical weather postpones Monday’s Atlas 5 rocket launch

August 29, 2015 Justin Ray

Plans to launch a Navy communications satellite aboard an Atlas 5 rocket early Monday have been interrupted by Tropical Storm Erika, an unpredictable cyclone with its sights on Florida.

Preview: Launch to complete Navy satellite fleet’s reach

August 28, 2015 Justin Ray

Likened to raising a cellular tower 22,300 miles high, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket will put the Navy’s fourth mobile communications satellite into space to expands the rugged smartphone system to global coverage.

Soyuz relocation clears way for launch of new station crew

August 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

Three space station crewmen strapped inside a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and relocated the landing capsule Friday, clearing a docking port for the arrival of a new crew next week.