October 2018 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Atlas 5 rocket begins arriving in Florida for commercial crew test flight

October 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

The Centaur upper stage destined to send Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner crew capsule into orbit on its first unpiloted test flight next year has arrived at Cape Canaveral after a sea journey aboard United Launch Alliance’s Mariner transport ship.

NASA administrator says Russians on track for December Soyuz flight to station

October 23, 2018 William Harwood

Russian engineers have a “really, really good idea” about what went wrong during a Soyuz launch to the International Space Station Oct. 11, forcing the ship’s two-man crew to carry out an emergency abort, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Tuesday. He added that he expects the Russians to resume piloted Soyuz flights in December.

Pegasus rocket launch postponed

October 23, 2018 Stephen Clark

Continuing a series of delays keeping NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer on Earth, NASA announced Tuesday that the satellite’s launch aboard an air-dropped Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket will not occur as scheduled Friday.

Rocket Lab breaks ground on new Virginia launch pad

October 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab broke ground on a new launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore last week after selecting the Wallops Island location for the company’s first U.S.-based launch site over competing spaceports in Florida, California and Alaska.

Ariane 5 launches two satellites on 7-year voyage to Mercury

October 20, 2018 William Harwood

A powerful European Ariane 5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana late Friday and boosted a pair of satellites into space for a seven-year plunge into the inner solar system, a voyage requiring seven planetary flybys to slow down enough in the sun’s gravitational clutches to slip into orbit around hellish Mercury.

Photos: BepiColombo stacked for launch to Mercury

October 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

Ground crews at the Guiana Space Center in South America have spent the last few months preparing the BepiColombo spacecraft, a tandem mission with European and Japanese science orbiters bound for Mercury, for launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

Live coverage: Probe heading to Mercury blasts off from French Guiana

October 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

The nearly $1.9 billion BepiColombo mission to Mercury jointly developed by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency lifted off Friday night from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. Launch occurred at 9:45 p.m. EDT Friday (0145 GMT Saturday).

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off with Air Force’s AEHF 4 satellite

October 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket fired into the night sky over Cape Canaveral just after midnight Wednesday, carrying the U.S. Air Force’s fourth AEHF communications satellite designed to enable secure voice, video and data links between U.S. and allied forces.

Air Force’s fourth AEHF communications satellite successfully launched from Florida

October 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

A $1.8 billion U.S. Air Force communications satellite rode a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket into orbit Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, joining three similar craft perched more than 22,000 miles above Earth to ensure government leaders can remain in contact with military commanders in the worst-case scenario of nuclear war.

Video: Atlas 5 rocket blasts off with AEHF 4 satellite

October 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force’s fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft launched Wednesday from Cape Canaveral on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, expanding the reach of the military’s most secure, jam-resistant satellite communications network.