October 2018 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

NASA astronaut unfazed by frightening launch abort

October 16, 2018 William Harwood

Two minutes after launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket last week, NASA astronaut Nick Hague knew something had gone badly wrong.

Watch a live view of the Atlas 5 rocket counting down to liftoff (members only)

October 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in advance of liftoff with the U.S. Air Force’s AEHF 4 communications satellite.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral

October 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s 50th mission for the U.S. Air Force lifted off at 12:15 a.m. EDT (0415 GMT) Wednesday. An Atlas 5 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral with the Air Force’s fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite.

ULA, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman share Air Force rocket funding

October 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force has committed $109 million in funding to advance development of new rockets designed by United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, leaving out SpaceX in a government investment round that will lead to the military’s selection of two long-term launch providers in late 2019 or 2020.

Launch timeline for Atlas 5’s AEHF 4 mission

October 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set to launch the U.S. Air Force’s fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite from Cape Canaveral. This timeline shows the major mission events planned over a three-and-a-half-hour flight to an optimized geostationary transfer orbit.

China launches two more Beidou navigation satellites

October 15, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Long March 3B rocket carried two more Beidou navigation satellites into orbit Monday, the 14th and 15th Chinese navigation spacecraft launched this year.

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket transferred to launch pad in Florida

October 15, 2018 Stephen Clark

A day-and-a-half before its liftoff with a U.S. Air Force communications satellite, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Monday morning.

Safety panel says much work left to do before commercial crew ships fly

October 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA safety advisors on Thursday lauded hardware milestones on Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew capsules, but said multiple technical issues, including problems with parachutes, must be resolved before the human-rated ships are ready to carry astronauts, adding that both companies continue to pursue schedules that appear to be unachievable.

Soyuz failure probe narrows focus on collision at booster separation

October 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Russian investigators believe a malfunction during separation of the Soyuz rocket’s four liquid-fueled first stage boosters two minutes after liftoff from Kazakhstan led to an emergency landing of a two-man crew heading for the International Space Station, officials said Friday.

Multiple replays of the Soyuz launch and abort

October 12, 2018 Spaceflight Now

Replays from cameras at the Baikonur Cosmodrome capture the launch of a Soyuz booster from different angles.