March 2016 – Page 7 – Spaceflight Now

MUOS 5 satellite comes to Florida on way to geosynchronous orbit

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

The fifth and final satellite for the U.S. Navy’s new mobile network to provide rugged smartphone communications to all branches of the military has arrived at the launch site for blastoff in May.

InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch

March 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA’s top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe’s science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.

New GPS satellite begins transmitting to users around the globe

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

Air Force ground controllers have activated service aboard the newest Global Positioning System satellite, achieving that milestone for the final spacecraft in a dozen built in a manufacturing batch to update the constellation.

OTD…March 9 and STS-133 landing

March 9, 2016 Justin Ray

Today in 2011, shuttle Discovery made a graceful landing at Kennedy Space Center, returning from her final voyage after a remarkable three-decade life of service.

Communications satellite launched to cover Rio Olympics

March 9, 2016 Stephen Clark

If you plan to watch athletes compete on the track or in the water during this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, there’s a good chance the television signals will be relayed from Brazil using a new Eutelsat communications satellite launched Wednesday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

Photos: Cygnus packed up and fueled for trip to the space station

March 8, 2016 Justin Ray

The International Space Station cargo ship launching from Cape Canaveral on March 22 has been given a name — the SS Rick Husband.

Delta 4-Heavy goes to launch pad for national security flight

March 8, 2016 Justin Ray

Rolling toward a mid-May deployment of a clandestine spy satellite, United Launch Alliance’s triple-body Delta 4-Heavy rocket moved from its Cape Canaveral assembly building to pad 37B yesterday.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 successful in middle-of-the-night launch

March 8, 2016 Stephen Clark

Soaring into orbit in a rare middle-of-the-night launch from French Guiana, an Ariane 5 rocket took off at 0520 GMT (12:20 a.m. EST) Wednesday with a Eutelsat communications satellite to boost television capacity ahead of the Rio Olympics.

Photos: Ariane 5 in position for blastoff from Kourou

March 8, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket is poised for a rare overnight launch early Wednesday, and these photos show the 180-foot-tall launcher on the eve of liftoff with a multi-mission Eutelsat communications satellite.

Assembly complete for ExoMars’ Proton launcher

March 8, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s ExoMars orbiter, due to begin a seven-month journey to the red planet March 14, has met its Russian Proton rocket booster as launch preparations enter the final stages at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.