May 2016 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

India readies reusable launch vehicle testbed for flight

May 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

India’s space agency plans to boost a sleek winged prototype spacecraft into the upper atmosphere aboard a solid-fueled rocket early Monday on a brief test flight that will end with a controlled, unpowered glide to a simulated runway landing in the Bay of Bengal.

Next pair of Galileo navigation satellites encapsulated for launch

May 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s nearly $8 billion Galileo navigation system, an analog to the U.S. GPS satellite network, is hitting a stride in production and launches, with another two spacecraft encapsulated Wednesday inside the fairing of a Soyuz rocket for liftoff next week.

Latest close-up of Mars comes from Hubble telescope

May 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

If you look at the night sky this month, chances are you can’t miss Mars rising in the east like an orange beacon each evening. Scientists recently aimed the Hubble Space Telescope at the red planet, producing a dazzling image of bright Martian ice caps, rust-colored landscapes and clouds hanging in its rarefied atmosphere.

First German commander among astronauts named for station flights

May 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

International Space Station managers have named crew members to future expeditions to the research lab in 2017 and 2018, including the first German commander of a space mission and Canada’s third astronaut to fly a long-duration residency on the complex.

China to debut new rocket and spaceport next month

May 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

China plans to launch its first Long March 7 rocket, a new kerosene-fueled booster capable of carrying supplies to the country’s planned space station, by the end of June on a test flight that will reportedly loft an unpiloted prototype of a future crew capsule.