July 2018 – Spaceflight Now

Long March 4B rocket lofts Chinese Earth-observing satellite

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

A sharp-eyed Chinese Earth-imaging satellite rode a Long March 4B booster into orbit Tuesday, tying the record for the highest number of space launches China has achieved in a single year.

Q&A with Andrew Driesman, project manager for Parker Solar Probe (members only)

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

Andrew Driesman is project manager for NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, leading a team of engineers and operators in charge of the first mission to fly through the sun’s atmosphere.

Solar probe moves into launch position at Cape Canaveral

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, fueled and buttoned up for liftoff Aug. 11 on the first mission to fly through the sun’s corona, arrived at its launch pad at Cape Canaveral early Tuesday after a convoy trip from a nearby fueling and test facility.

Photos: Ariane 5 blasts off with Galileo satellites

July 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Look back on last week’s blastoff of an Ariane 5 rocket from the edge of the Amazon jungle in French Guiana carrying four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.

Another pair of Chinese navigation satellites successfully launched

July 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket launched two satellites Sunday to become the eighth and ninth spacecraft added to the country’s Beidou navigation system so far this year.

TESS’s planet hunt begins

July 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s newest observatory in space has started its search for planets around other stars, officials said Friday, as astronomers zero in on worlds that are ripe for research by follow-up missions like the James Webb Space Telescope.

Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane climbs closer to space

July 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, built to eventually carry commercial passengers to the edge of space, accomplished another powered test flight into the rarefied upper atmosphere Thursday with two pilots on-board.

Video: Ariane 5 takes off from French Guiana

July 26, 2018 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of the liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday from the Guiana Space Center, a spaceport carved from the edge of the Amazon rainforest. The launcher carried four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.

Video: Falcon 9 lifts off in a veil of fog

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A thick marine layer blanketing Vandenberg Air Force Base in California restricted views of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off early Wednesday, but cameras fixed to the launcher provided spectacular imagery of the predawn departure with 10 Iridium satellites on-board.

Successful Ariane 5 launch fills out European navigation fleet

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

The final flight of a discontinued version of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket added four more spacecraft to Europe’s Galileo navigation constellation Wednesday, giving the multibillion-euro network enough satellites to remain on track for the start of full global service in 2020.