February 2018 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Soyuz rocket launches cargo freighter to International Space Station

February 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Running two days later after a last-minute abort Sunday, a Russian Progress resupply and refueling freighter lifted off in a blanket of fog Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to deliver three tons of cargo, propellant and water to the International Space Station.

Trump budget aims to kick-start lunar exploration, cancels space telescope

February 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

The White House’s $19.9 billion NASA budget outline released Monday would continue development of NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule and begin the deployment of a mini-space station around the moon as soon as 2022, but the proposal would cancel WFIRST, a flagship-class astronomy mission planned for launch in the mid-2020s.

China adds two more satellites to home-grown navigation network

February 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two more Chinese Beidou navigation satellites successfully lifted off aboard a Long March 3B rocket Monday on China’s seventh space launch in five weeks.

Trump administration supports transition to commercially-focused space station

February 12, 2018 William Harwood

The Trump administration is proposing to end direct government support of the International Space Station in 2025, but plans to include $150 million in NASA’s fiscal 2019 budget, to be unveiled Monday, to begin work on transitioning, if possible, to a more commercially focused outpost, according to an internal NASA review.

Resupply launch scrubbed, thwarting fast-track rendezvous with space station

February 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

The launch of a Russian Progress cargo ship aboard a Soyuz rocket was aborted in the final minute of the countdown Sunday, forcing a delay of at least two days in the start of a resupply and refueling mission to the International Space Station.

Soyuz rocket positioned on launch pad for station resupply flight

February 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz booster and an automated Progress resupply ship reached their launch pad Friday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, two days before firing into orbit test out a new expedited rendezvous sequence that will culminate in the Progress spacecraft’s docking with the International Space Station just three-and-a-half hours after launch.

Photos: More images of Falcon Heavy’s launch and booster landings

February 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

These additional views of the Falcon Heavy’s maiden liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, and landing of its two side boosters at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, come from locations across the Florida spaceport.

Photos: Launch pad cameras capture Falcon Heavy’s fiery liftoff

February 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

This up-close sequence of photos shows the Falcon Heavy rocket lifting off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with nearly 5 million pounds of ground-shaking thrust.

Photos: Press site views of Falcon Heavy’s maiden launch

February 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket powered off launch pad 39A at 3:45 p.m. EST (2045 GMT) Tuesday on its inaugural test flight, and we captured the launcher’s spectacular liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site around 3 miles from the pad.

‘Starman’ puts Earth in the rearview mirror

February 8, 2018 William Harwood

Now in an elliptical orbit around the sun, the Tesla Roadster launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Tuesday during the powerful booster’s maiden flight was expected to pass beyond the moon’s orbit overnight Wednesday and reach the orbit of Mars in July as it puts Earth in its rear view mirror, analysts said.