November 2016 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Timeline: Atlas 5/GOES-R ascent profile

November 18, 2016 Justin Ray

This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral with the advanced GOES-R weather satellite for NASA and NOAA. Launch is scheduled for Saturday at 5:42 p.m. EST (2242 GMT).

Milestone-setting 100th EELV rocket moves to launch pad

November 18, 2016 Justin Ray

The 100th rocket in America’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the current fleet of boosters used by the nation to get its critical assets into space, was rolled to the pad Friday morning for a vital mission on Saturday.

Photos: Atlas 5 rolled out with GOES-R aboard

November 18, 2016 Justin Ray

The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, equipped with four strap-on solid-propellant boosters for added performance, was transfered from its assembly building to the pad at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 to deliver the GOES-R weather satellite into space.

Two Chinese astronauts back on Earth

November 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

Two Chinese astronauts closed out a month in space Friday with a parachute-assisted landing in northern China’s remote Inner Mongolia territory, a day after the crew departed the Tiangong 2 space lab to begin the trip home.

Video: Atlas 5/GOES-R pre-launch news conference

November 18, 2016 Justin Ray

Preview the deployment of the advanced GOES-R weather satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in the pre-launch news conference held at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, Nov. 17.

Europe’s satellite navigation fleet gets big boost from Ariane 5 rocket

November 18, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s Galileo navigation program turned to the workhorse Ariane 5 rocket for a heavy lift Thursday, delivering four new satellites to orbit on the launcher’s 75th successful flight in a row and pushing the growing fleet closer to global coverage.

Video: Soyuz launches three-person international crew

November 18, 2016 Justin Ray

The Russian Soyuz MS-03 crew transport spacecraft is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with three passengers on a two-day trek to the International Space Station.

Soyuz takes off, heads for space station

November 17, 2016 William Harwood

By the light of a waning moon, a Russian rocket carrying a veteran cosmonaut, a French flight engineer making his first flight and America’s most experienced female astronaut blasted off and streaked smoothly into orbit Thursday, the first step in a two-day rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Soyuz crew capsule arrives at space station

November 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

Three new residents completed the final leg of their pursuit of the International Space Station, with docking to the complex at 2158 GMT (4:58 p.m. EST) Saturday, two days after blastoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz capsule carrying the U.S.-Russian-French crew linked up with the research lab’s Rassvet module.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 lifts off on its first Galileo launch

November 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket took off on a rare morning launch Thursday with four Galileo navigation satellites, the heavy-lifter’s first flight in support of the European positioning and timing fleet. Liftoff from French Guiana occurred at 1306 GMT (8:06 a.m. EST).