February 2017 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Reconnaissance payload mounted atop Atlas 5 for California launch

February 15, 2017 Justin Ray

Rising from the ground and into the launch pad gantry, a clandestine U.S. national security payload was fitted atop its Atlas 5 booster rocket in California today for the ride into space on March 1.

India lofts a record 104 spacecraft on a single rocket

February 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Indian rocket deployed 104 spacecraft into orbit 300 miles above Earth on Tuesday, the largest pack of satellites ever launched on a single booster.

Brazilian and Indonesian telecom satellites healthy after Ariane 5 launch

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A pair of commercial broadcast satellites on the way to parking spots high above Brazil and Indonesia are safely in orbit after blasting off Tuesday atop an Ariane 5 rocket.

Video: Ariane 5 darts through cloudy skies with Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket climbed into space from French Guiana on Tuesday evening, hauling the Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S communications satellites to orbit on the way to operating posts over Brazil and Indonesia.

Indian rocket set to place 104 satellites in orbit

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is scheduled to fire into orbit late Tuesday, U.S. time, with 104 satellites on-board, setting a record for the largest flock of spacecraft ever launched on a single rocket.

No imminent X-37B landing planned

February 14, 2017 Justin Ray

The enigmatic X-37B spaceplane, launched into low-Earth orbit on an experimental military mission in 2015, continues to circle the planet despite a flurry of landing rumors.

Photos: Ariane 5 rocket in position for first launch of 2017

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A powerful Ariane 5 rocket rolled out of its vertical assembly hangar to a tropical launch pad on the shores of South America on Monday, and these photos show the booster on the eve of liftoff.

Live coverage: European launcher heads to orbit from French Guiana

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Arianespace’s launch team loaded an Ariane 5 rocket full of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants Tuesday for a fiery sunset blastoff from French Guiana at 2139 GMT (4:39 p.m. EST) with two European-built television broadcast satellites for Brazil and Indonesia.

Timeline for Ariane 5’s launch of Sky Brasil 1 and Telkom 3S

February 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A commercial satellite to broadcast television programming to millions of homes in Brazil and a multipurpose communications craft to beam high-definition video and Internet signals across Indonesia are awaiting a half-hour ride into orbit on an Ariane 5 rocket Tuesday.

Ariane 5 launcher set for sunset blastoff Tuesday

February 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two commercial communications satellites heading for orbits more than 22,000 miles above Earth are scheduled for launch from a jungle launch facility in French Guiana at sunset Tuesday on top of an Ariane 5 rocket.