December 2018 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

India preps military communications satellite for launch Wednesday

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

A communications satellite destined to serve the Indian military is set to blast off from the country’s east coast Wednesday aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle on the seventh and last launch of the year for the Indian space program.

Blue Origin scrubs suborbital launch attempt, delays flight to early 2019

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin scrubbed the planned launch Tuesday of the company’s suborbital New Shepard booster from West Texas due to a “ground infrastructure issue,” and later said the flight would be pushed back to early 2019.

Live coverage: Soyuz lifts off with French spy satellite

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

The French military’s newest sharp-eyed optical surveillance satellite lifted off at 1637 GMT (11:37 a.m. EST) Wednesday from French Guiana aboard a Russian-built Soyuz launcher, marking Arianespace’s 11th and final launch of 2018. The Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage will place the CSO 1 spacecraft into orbit around 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth. Managers delayed the launch from Tuesday due to unfavorable high-altitude winds.

Live view of the Falcon 9 at pad 40 (members only)

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad as SpaceX counts down to launch of the GPS 3 SV01 navigation satellite

Falcon 9 launch timeline with the GPS 3 SV01 navigation satellite

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday carrying the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches GPS navigation satellite for U.S. Air Force

December 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 8:51 a.m. EST (1351 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral with the first in a new line of upgraded U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellites. The launch was delayed five days due to technical and weather concerns.

Air Force requirements will keep SpaceX from landing Falcon 9 booster after GPS launch

December 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

The demands of launching the first in an upgraded line of U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellites, including a late load of extra fuel for the spacecraft and a military policy of reserving fuel to eliminate space junk, will keep SpaceX from recovering the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket following liftoff Thursday from Cape Canaveral, according to mission managers.

NASA, Rocket Lab partner on successful satellite launch from New Zealand

December 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s commercial Electron booster fired into orbit from New Zealand on Sunday, carrying a flock of 13 CubeSats on the company’s first mission chartered by NASA, and closing out a landmark year for the new smallsat launch provider as Rocket Lab aims to grow its flight rate to at least one per month in 2019.

Soyuz raised on launch pad in French Guiana for Arianespace’s last flight of 2018

December 15, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian-made Soyuz booster rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Friday, and hydraulic lifts rotated the launcher vertical in preparation for liftoff Tuesday with the first in a new series of French military spy satellites.

Video and photo highlights of Virgin Galactic’s historic SpaceShipTwo test flight

December 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

Check out video highlights released by Virgin Galactic of Thursday’s test flight by the company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane to an altitude of 271,000 feet, above a boundary recognized by the U.S. government as the edge of space.