December 2016 – Page 8 – Spaceflight Now

Preview: Upgraded satellite for military communications to launch

December 5, 2016 Justin Ray

The backbone of the U.S. military’s global communications network, relied upon by soldiers, ships, jets, aerial drones and allied nations around the world, will receive a new satellite with unprecedented capacity following its launch Wednesday atop a Delta 4 rocket.

Timeline: Delta 4/WGS 8 launch events

December 5, 2016 Justin Ray

Follow the Delta 4 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 37 launch pad with the U.S. Air Force’s WGS 8 communications satellite. Liftoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:53 p.m. EST.

Turkey’s military gets a new eye in the sky with successful Vega launch

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built, Turkish-owned spy satellite rocketed into orbit Monday aboard a Vega booster launched from French Guiana, part of a $300 million project to feed improved surveillance imagery to the Turkish military and advance the country’s aerospace manufacturing base.

Virgin Galactic’s second spaceship aces first glide flight

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane glided to a runway landing after dropping from its carrier aircraft over California’s Mojave Desert on Saturday.

Live coverage: Turkish reconnaissance launches on Vega rocket

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Vega rocket lifted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana at 1351 GMT (8:51 a.m. EST) Monday with Gokturk 1, a sharp-eyed reconnaissance satellite built in France and owned by the Turkish armed forces.

Photos: Indian launcher assembled to loft environment-monitoring spacecraft

December 4, 2016 Stephen Clark

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle has been stacked on its launch pad for blastoff early Wednesday with a new resource-mapping satellite to aid in urban planning, crop monitoring and improve emergency response to natural disasters.

Launch timeline for Vega’s liftoff with Gokturk 1

December 4, 2016 Stephen Clark

Turkey’s most advanced Earth observation satellite will ride a four-stage Vega rocket into polar orbit nearly 435 miles above Earth to begin collecting high-resolution images for Turkish military and security authorities.

Favorable weather forecast for Wednesday’s Delta 4 launch from Florida

December 4, 2016 Justin Ray

Air Force meteorologists are expecting good weather to launch the Delta 4 rocket with a military communications satellite Wednesday evening from Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX sets Dec. 16 for first flight since launch pad explosion

December 2, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first 10 satellites in Iridium’s next-generation mobile voice and data network could head into orbit from California as soon as Dec. 16 on SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 flight since a booster exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in September, grounding the commercial launcher more than three months.

Russian space station cargo freighter lost on launch

December 1, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russian mission control said Thursday an unpiloted Progress space station supply ship carrying nearly 5,400 pounds of rocket fuel, food, water and a new spacesuit burned up in Earth’s atmosphere shortly after it blasted off from Kazakhstan, and evidence points to a problem with the third stage of the cargo carrier’s Soyuz booster.