December 2016 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

China sends carbon-monitoring satellite into orbit

December 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Chinese satellite designed to track greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere rode into orbit Wednesday aboard a Long March 2D rocket, joining an international fleet of orbiting carbon dioxide monitors aimed at combating climate change.

Brazilian and Japanese communications satellites launched by Ariane 5 rocket

December 21, 2016 Stephen Clark

Closing out a banner year of launches, an Ariane 5 rocket thundered into space Wednesday from French Guiana with two commercial communications satellites manufactured in California to expand television and broadband access in Latin America and broadcast television programming in Japan.

Watch Ariane 5 launch with Star One D1 and JCSAT 15

December 21, 2016 Spaceflight Now

Watch a replay of the launch of an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana carrying the Star One D1 and JCSAT 15 communications satellites.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches from French Guiana

December 21, 2016 Spaceflight Now

An Ariane 5 rocket has blasted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana on nearly 3 million pounds of thrust, hoisting two U.S.-built communications satellites to orbit for commercial owners in Brazil and Japan.

Engineers examine unexpected readings from JWST shake test

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

NASA says engineers are diagnosing the source of “anomalous readings” during a recent vibration test of the sensitive optics and sensors at the heart of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

Photos: Ariane 5’s journey to the launch pad

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

Topped with Brazilian and Japanese television broadcasting satellites, an Ariane 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, a day before its scheduled blastoff on the way to geostationary transfer orbit.

Research platform launched to brave Van Allen radiation belts

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan launched a research satellite Tuesday to repeatedly fly through the Van Allen belts high above Earth, helping scientists sort out how chaotic geomagnetic storms form and evolve and potentially endanger astronauts, spacecraft and infrastructure vital to life on the ground.

Live coverage: Japan’s enhanced Epsilon booster blasts off

December 20, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Japanese Epsilon rocket launched Tuesday from the Uchinoura Space Center, a shoreline spaceport on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu, with a space weather research probe to study phenomena inside the turbulent Van Allen radiation belts. Liftoff of the 85-foot-tall rocket occurred at 1100 GMT (6 a.m. EST).

Photos: Final batch of EchoStar 19 launch shots

December 20, 2016 Justin Ray

With a 2-to-1 thrust-to-weight ratio, the million-pound United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket unleashed two-million pounds of ground-shaking thrust to power away from its seaside launch complex at 2:13 p.m. EST (1913 GMT) Sunday with the EchoStar 19 satellite.

Last Ariane 5 flight of the year cleared for launch

December 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Arianespace officials have approved the rollout and launch of the final Ariane 5 flight of the year, set to blast off Wednesday from French Guiana to haul Brazilian and Japanese communications stations toward their orbital perches more than 22,000 miles above the equator.