2015 – Page 62 – Spaceflight Now

OTD…April 29 and STS-51B

April 29, 2015 Justin Ray

#OTD…Launch of Challenger in 1985 on a Spacelab research flight

Arabsat contracts go to Lockheed Martin, Arianespace and SpaceX

April 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

Lockheed Martin will build two communications satellites for Saudi Arabia’s Arabsat, and Arianespace and SpaceX will launch the commercial relay platforms under contracts valued at $650 million announced Wednesday.

Mexican satellite launch grounded for engineering review

April 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

The launch of a Boeing-built Mexican communications satellite on a Proton rocket has been postponed after engineers discovered an anomaly on a similar spacecraft.

Photos: Falcon 9 rockets into dusky sky

April 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral on Monday after a 49-minute weather hold to wait for clouds to thin out overhead. The rocket finally lifted off into an overcast sky with a communications satellite built for Turkmenistan.

Photos: Telecom satellites blast off from the jungle

April 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

Look back on Sunday’s launch of an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s jungle spaceport in French Guiana with two communications satellites for a commercial Norwegian telecom operator and Franco-Italian military authorities.

OTD…April 28 and STS-39

April 28, 2015 Justin Ray

OTD…Launch of Discovery in 1991 on a Defense Department research flight

Video: Russian cargo ship spinning

April 28, 2015 Justin Ray

A video camera aboard Russian Progress cargo ship reveals craft is spinning dramatically in orbit as it passes in range of ground station communications.

Russians scramble to restore cargo ship communications

April 28, 2015 William Harwood

A Russian Progress supply ship loaded with more than 3 tons of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station apparently spun out of control shortly after reaching orbit Tuesday, putting the resupply mission in jeopardy while flight controllers scrambled to come up with a fix.

Antenna snag strikes Progress cargo freighter

April 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russian ground controllers decided Tuesday to delay the docking of a Progress supply freighter to the International Space Station until Thursday after telemetry signals indicated two radar navigation antennas may not have deployed following the ship’s launch from Kazakhstan.

Falcon 9 rocket powers into space with satellite for Turkmenistan

April 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

A communications satellite for Turkmenistan soared into orbit Monday, climbing through gloomy skies over Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to give the Central Asian nation its first foothold in space.