September 2015 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

January 9, 2026

Breaking News

[ January 9, 2026 ] Crew-11 to cut mission short and return to Earth due to medical issue Mission Reports
[ January 8, 2026 ] SpaceX to launch Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Falcon 9
[ January 7, 2026 ] NASA weighs an earlier end to the Crew-11 mission after a ‘medical situation’ with an ISS crew member postpones first spacewalk of 2026 Mission Reports
[ January 6, 2026 ] Dept. of the Air Force opens bidding for Space Launch Complex 14 at Vandenberg SFB News
[ January 4, 2026 ] SpaceX launches first Starlink deployment mission since problem strikes satellite Falcon 9

Q&A with Rolf de Groot, head of ESA’s robotic exploration office

September 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now’s Stephen Clark spoke with Rolf de Groot, head of ESA’s robotic exploration coordination office, on Sept. 25, discussing the two-month launch delay of Europe’s ExoMars orbiter and landing demonstrator set to depart for Mars in 2016 and the status of an ambitious rover mission in 2018.

Mexican communications satellite put aboard Atlas 5 rocket for launch

September 25, 2015 Justin Ray

A 12,000-pound Mexican mobile communications satellite was hoisted atop its Atlas 5 rocket today as crews finished assembling the vehicle for United Launch Alliance’s 100th liftoff next week.

First static fire completed on upgraded Falcon 9

September 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 booster powered up to full throttle in a brief ignition at the company’s Central Texas test site this week as engineers prepare for the rocket’s return to flight as soon as mid-November with a European communications satellite.

OTD…Sept. 25 and STS-86

September 25, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD in 1997…Atlantis launched on the seventh joint docking mission with Russia’s space station Mir

Secrets behind Pluto’s pastels far from being answered

September 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

Geologists said Thursday they are bewildered by images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft baring unseen landscapes on Pluto with unexpected “snakeskin” textures, colorful chasms routing through ancient landforms, and vivid new views of apparent glacial flows.

Modified missile launches three Russian satellites

September 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

Three Russian military satellites arrived in orbit Wednesday after taking off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome aboard a Rockot launch vehicle, a decommissioned ballistic missile modified for space applications.

Orbital ATK beats out Aerojet in ULA booster selection

September 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance has selected Orbital ATK to provide solid rocket boosters for the company’s next-generation Vulcan launcher, and will switch the workhorse Atlas 5 to the new booster supplier by the end of 2018, officials said Tuesday.

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Tower roll for Delta 4

September 22, 2015 Spaceflight Now

Boeing identifies CST-100 prime landing sites

September 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first few flights of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule will likely land on expansive desert plains in New Mexico or Utah, according to a former astronaut charged with developing the spacecraft’s operations scheme.

China aims for landing on moon’s far side by 2020

September 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

A rover and landing platform developed as a backup for China’s Chang’e 3 moon mission will be repurposed to attempt the first touchdown on the lunar far side by the end of the decade, Chinese officials said.

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