July 2018 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

U.S. cargo craft tests reboost capability at International Space Station

July 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

A commercial Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship berthed at the International Space Station fired its main engine for 50 seconds Tuesday in a test of the spacecraft’s ability to reboost, and possibly eventually deorbit, the massive research outpost.

NASA’s Kepler telescope nears end of mission

July 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

Nearly a decade after launching from Cape Canaveral on a planet-hunting quest that has netted 2,650 new confirmed worlds beyond our solar system, NASA’s Kepler telescope has paused its observations after on-board sensors detected it is running low on fuel.

Chinese navigation satellite deployed by Long March rocket

July 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

China launched its second space mission in less than 24 hours Tuesday, sending a Beidou navigation satellite toward an orbital perch around 22,000 miles above Earth.

Progress freighter completes fastest-ever trip to International Space Station

July 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian Progress resupply and refueling craft launched Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, riding a Soyuz booster into orbit on a perfectly-timed departure that set the stage for an on-target docking with the International Space Station less than four hours later.

China successfully launches two satellites for Pakistan

July 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Chinese Long March 2C rocket launched Monday with two satellites for Pakistan’s national space agency, extending a partnership between the two countries’ space programs.

Russian cargo ship to try fast-track rendezvous with space station

July 7, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz rocket and Progress resupply freighter are set for liftoff Monday on an accelerated, less-than-four-hour rendezvous with the International Space Station after last-minute launch scrubs prevented two similar fast-track approach attempts in recent months.

SpaceX could try to land rocket in California later this year

July 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

A recent federal regulatory filing by SpaceX suggests the company may attempt to return a Falcon 9 rocket booster to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the first time later this year.

ISRO conducts abort test on prototype crew capsule

July 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

India’s space agency tested a launch escape system Thursday that could be used on a future spaceship designed to carry astronauts into orbit.

NASA likely to relocate delayed Pegasus launch to Florida

July 5, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA and Northrop Grumman are expected to base the launch of an air-dropped Pegasus rocket with a NASA science satellite from Cape Canaveral later this year, after originally trying to get the mission into space from a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Scientists thrilled with closer views of Ceres’ famous salty crater

July 3, 2018 Stephen Clark

Fresh pictures from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft have provided the sharpest glimpse yet of the bright salt deposits discovered inside a crater on Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt.