May 2016 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX pencils in July for next Falcon 9 landing at Cape Canaveral

May 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

The next chance for SpaceX to return a Falcon 9 booster to landing at Cape Canaveral will come in mid-July, when the company plans to launch a Dragon supply ship to the International Space Station, a company official said Tuesday.

On this date…Second American in orbit

May 24, 2016 Justin Ray

Scott Carpenter launched atop an Atlas rocket to become the second American to orbit the Earth today in 1962, flying for 4 hours and 39 minutes aboard Aurora 7 while making three revolutions of the globe.

Soyuz launch adds two more satellites to Galileo navigation fleet

May 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two more Galileo satellites successfully catapulted into space from the French Guiana jungle aboard a Soyuz rocket Tuesday, putting Europe’s multibillion-dollar navigation system on track to begin limited global service later this year.

India flies winged space plane on experimental suborbital launch

May 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

A prototype for a future winged Indian spaceship took off early Monday on a suborbital flight 40 miles over the Bay of Bengal and steered itself to an on-target splashdown, testing a heat shield and guidance, navigation and control algorithms.

Live coverage: Soyuz rocket lifts off with new Galileo satellites

May 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Russian-built Soyuz rocket lifted off from South America at 0848 GMT (4:48 a.m. EDT) Tuesday with two new navigation satellites for Europe’s Galileo system, readying the network for initial operating capability later this year.

Timeline for Soyuz launch 13th and 14th Galileo satellites

May 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

The 13th and 14th operational members of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellite network are set for liftoff Tuesday aboard a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana. Track the progress of the flight with this timeline of key events.

Parade moves last shuttle fuel tank to museum for Endeavour display

May 21, 2016 Justin Ray

A spectacle never seen before — a space shuttle external fuel tank traversing city streets — was witnessed in Los Angeles on Saturday as the relic was moved to the museum that will construct a rocket science attraction.

Photos: Final space shuttle fuel tank moves through Los Angeles to museum

May 21, 2016 Justin Ray

A last-of-its-kind piece of space hardware — the only remaining shuttle external fuel tank — makes its way along the city streets of Los Angeles to the California Science Center.

NASA probe that will make round trip to asteroid and back sent to launch base

May 20, 2016 Justin Ray

Equipped with a robot arm, sample collector and return capsule, NASA’s asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx probe emerged from its pristine factory and flew to the launch site in Florida on Friday.

One year in space: X-37B spaceplane celebrates anniversary without fanfare

May 20, 2016 Justin Ray

Orbiting the world in seclusion for the past year, the Air Force’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane marks the anniversary of its launch today.