October 2017 – Page 8 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch of TV broadcast satellite

October 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

Liftoff of a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with a European-built television broadcast satellite has been pushed back from Saturday until at least next Wednesday night, officials said.

Station astronauts prep for spacewalk to repair robotic arm

October 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei headed outside the International Space Station Thursday on a spacewalk to replace one end of the lab’s Canadian-built robotic arm, a changeout that engineers say will restore the device to full capability.

JWST launch slips to early 2019

October 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

Extra testing of the James Webb Space Telescope and delays in assembling the powerful observatory will push back the $10 billion mission’s launch by at least six months to early 2019, officials announced last week as the telescope successfully completed an extensive performance test inside a cryogenic vacuum chamber in Houston.

China resumes launch campaigns after string of failures, delays lunar mission

October 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of three experimental remote sensing satellites last week signaled the resumption of Chinese space launches following multiple rocket failures since late last year, but a senior Chinese space official has confirmed the Chang’e 5 mission to return samples from the moon remains grounded.

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket rolls out for NROL-52 flight

October 3, 2017 Justin Ray

Riding the rails between its assembly building and the launch pad, an Atlas 5 rocket topped with a clandestine national security satellite was rolled out this morning for Thursday’s liftoff at 4:07 a.m. EDT (0807 GMT).

Live coverage: Atlas 5 countdown and launch journal

October 2, 2017 Justin Ray

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral at 3:28 a.m. EDT (0728 GMT) today to place a classified surveillance satellite into space for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. Follow the ascent in our live journal.

Preview: Atlas 5 to execute another space-lift mission for U.S. spy satellite agency

October 2, 2017 Justin Ray

An early bird rocket launch from the Florida spaceport will take to the skies before dawn Thursday when an Atlas 5 lofts a classified U.S. government satellite.

Photos: NROL-52 payload mounted atop Atlas 5 booster

October 2, 2017 Justin Ray

his photo gallery shows the classified National Reconnaissance Office payload, already encapsulated in the 14-foot-diameter nose cone, being lifted atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas-Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Vertical Integration Facility.

Video: SpaceX conducts hotfire test for next Falcon 9 launch

October 2, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX ran a Falcon 9 rocket through a series of pre-flight checks Monday, culminating in a hold-down engine firing ahead of a planned launch Saturday with a communications satellite for SES and EchoStar.

Previously-flown Falcon 9 booster test-fired for weekend launch

October 2, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a reused Falcon 9 booster Monday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, checking the rocket’s readiness for a planned liftoff Saturday with an Airbus-built commercial communications satellite.