June 2017 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Photos: India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle prepared for liftoff

June 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ready for its 40th launch, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is set to carry 31 satellites into orbit Friday, and these photos chronicle the rocket’s launch preparations.

Live coverage: India’s PSLV delivers international payloads to orbit

June 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

India launched the 40th Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle mission Friday carrying an Earth observation satellite and 30 secondary payloads from 15 nations. Liftoff occurred at 0359 GMT Friday (11:59 p.m. EDT Thursday).

Head of BulgariaSat says satellite project would be impossible without SpaceX

June 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

On the eve of the launch of his country’s first communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket, the chief executive of BulgariaSat credited SpaceX’s cost-cutting ways with making space accessible for small nations and money-conscious companies like his own.

Indian rocket set to launch 31 satellites

June 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, crowned with 31 satellites from 15 countries, is counting down to liftoff early Friday from an island spaceport on the country’s east coast.

Updated Kepler catalog contains 219 new exoplanet candidates

June 21, 2017 Stephen Clark

Scientists have published a catalog of exoplanet discoveries made by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, identifying 219 previously-unknown planet candidates circling stars elsewhere in the galaxy, including 10 would-be worlds that appear to be about the same size of Earth with temperatures potentially hospitable for life.

Launch of military’s new space-based satellite tracker delayed to August

June 21, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch from Cape Canaveral of a small U.S. military satellite built to track objects in geosynchronous orbit has been delayed from mid-July until August, an Air Force spokesperson said.

SpaceX rocket passes key preflight test before liftoff from California

June 20, 2017 Stephen Clark

Juggling simultaneous launch campaigns on both coasts, a team of SpaceX engineers put a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary countdown rehearsal and hold-down firing Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California ahead of a scheduled liftoff Sunday.

Experiment devoted to neutron star research installed on space station

June 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

A NASA instrument built to help astronomers learn about the structure and behavior of neutron stars, super-dense stellar skeletons left behind by massive explosions, has been mounted to an observation post outside the International Space Station after delivery aboard a SpaceX supply ship earlier this month.

Chinese broadcasting satellite ends up in wrong orbit after rocket failure

June 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ground controllers could try to salvage a Chinese television broadcasting satellite deployed in a lower-than-planned orbit Sunday by a Long March 3B rocket.

Falcon 9 launch delay sets up potential SpaceX ‘doubleheader’ next weekend

June 18, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has pushed back the liftoff of a Bulgarian television broadcast satellite on the company’s second previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket until at least Friday, giving ground crews time to replace a valve on the launcher inside a hangar at its Florida launch pad.