June 2017 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

Dawn mission managers await NASA decision on spacecraft’s future

June 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

The future of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, running low on hydrazine fuel and now flying around the dwarf planet Ceres without the help of internal pointing wheels, will be decided in the coming weeks by top space agency managers.

Progress cargo freighter docks with International Space Station

June 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Russian Progress supply ship sailed to an automated docking Friday with the International Space Station two days after departing the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, delivering approximately three tons of fuel, spare parts and water to the orbiting outpost and its three-person crew.

Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Monday after hold-down engine firing

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of a commercial Bulgarian television broadcast satellite from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is set for Monday after SpaceX ran through a mock countdown Thursday and test-fired a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket’s Merlin main engines.

Video: SpaceX’s second reused Falcon 9 rocket test-fired in Florida

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket ignited its nine Merlin main engines for several seconds Thursday at launch pad 39A in Florida, moving the previously-flown booster closer to a scheduled blastoff Monday with a Bulgarian communications satellite.

Chinese astronomy satellite placed into orbit by Long March rocket

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

China’s first X-ray astronomy satellite launched Thursday on a mission to survey the Milky Way galaxy for black holes and pulsars, the remnants left behind after a star burns up its nuclear fuel.

Live coverage: Previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket fires engines on Florida launch pad

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch, using a previously-flown first stage booster, took a step closer to liftoff Thursday with a countdown rehearsal culminating in ignition of the launcher’s nine Merlin main engines in a hold-down firing at pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Video: Russia’s Progress MS-06 supply ship blasts off from Baikonur

June 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Progress MS-06 supply ship launched Wednesday aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, on the way to deliver food, fuel, spare parts, oxygen and water to the International Space Station’s crew.

Robotic Russian resupply freighter on the way to space station

June 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A Russian Progress supply ship packed with several tons of crew provisions and fuel lifted off Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

Boeing, DARPA to base XS-1 spaceplane at Cape Canaveral

June 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

A reusable suborbital spaceplane the size of a business jet being developed by Boeing and the Defense Department’s research and development arm could be launching and landing at Cape Canaveral in 2020, officials said after the defense contractor won a competition last month to design and test the vehicle.

Photos: Russian Proton rocket blasts off with EchoStar 21

June 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

Look back on last week’s launch of a Russian Proton rocket from Kazakhstan with the EchoStar 21 communications satellite, a commercial craft designed to beam broadband connectivity to customers across Europe.