October 2015 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Chinese rocket deploys third Tianhui mapping satellite

October 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

China’s third Tianhui mapping satellite, built for land resource surveys and scientific research, rocketed into space Monday aboard a Long March 2D rocket, Chinese state media reported.

Preview: Atlas 5 rocket goes for its third launch of October

October 26, 2015 Justin Ray

The penultimate satellite in the current generation of Global Positioning System spacecraft will be deployed Friday, capping a hectic four weeks with three launches from two coasts for the Atlas 5 rocket fleet.

Bags are packed inside Cygnus commercial cargo freighter

October 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first installment of supplies and provisions tagged for launch on Orbital ATK’s next commercial supply run to the International Space Station, the company’s first since a catastrophic launch failure last year, has been loaded into the Cygnus spacecraft’s pressurized cargo section.

Assembly complete for NASA’s asteroid sample return spacecraft

October 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA’s first asteroid-sampling probe, OSIRIS-REx, has been assembled at a Lockheed Martin satellite factory in Colorado and is now being tested to ensure it can withstand the harsh journey to an asteroid and back.

Atlas 5/GPS 2F-11 launch timeline

October 25, 2015 Justin Ray

Follow the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad with the U.S. Air Force’s GPS 2F-11 navigation satellite. Launch is scheduled for Friday at 12:17 p.m. EDT (1617 GMT).

Record-breaking Hurricane Patricia viewed from orbit

October 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Astronauts on the International Space Station and a fleet of Earth-watching satellites caught views of Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful cyclone on record in the Western Hemisphere, after the storm exploded in strength to become a monster Category 5 hurricane Friday.

NASA completes SLS design review, confirms rocket to be orange

October 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA has finished the design of the Space Launch System, a huge rocket to boost astronaut crews farther from Earth than ever before, and formally decided the launcher’s cryogenic core stage will be burnt orange, the same color as the space shuttle’s external fuel tank, officials announced Thursday.

Month: October 2015