June 2019 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

ESA books launch of Jupiter orbiter with Arianespace

June 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

The European Space Agency has reserved an Ariane launcher to send a spacecraft toward Jupiter in May 2022, and the mission’s project manager said Tuesday officials could assign the probe to Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket, assuming the vehicle has a successful debut by the end of 2020.

Watch time-lapse of Falcon Heavy going upright (members only)

June 19, 2019 Spaceflight Now

In this time-lapse video, a Falcon Heavy rocket is lifted into position atop launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in readiness for a pre-flight test firing of its 27 Merlin main engines.

10 years since its launch, NASA lunar orbiter remains crucial for moon landings

June 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

Scientists marked the 10th anniversary of the launch of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on Tuesday, celebrating a mission that has greatly outlived its original one-year design life and continues taking high-resolution pictures to help U.S. companies and international space agencies select destinations for moon landers.

Firefly offering free launch for research and educational payloads

June 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace is asking academic institutions, startup companies and the public to submit ideas for payloads to launch, free of charge, on the inaugural orbital flight of the company’s Alpha rocket next year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy engines test-fired for launch next week

June 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy launch for the U.S. Air Force took a major step closer to liftoff with a hold-down engine firing Wednesday night at launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Liftoff with a cluster of experimental satellites and weather monitoring craft is set for June 24.

Watch live views of the Falcon Heavy launch pad (members only)

June 18, 2019 Spaceflight Now

Watch live views of launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center as SpaceX prepares for the first night launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket.

Rocket Lab’s next launch will loft cluster of satellites on Spaceflight rideshare

June 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand is set for no earlier than June 27 with a bundle of spacecraft including a commercial Earth-observing microsatellite for BlackSky, two CubeSats for U.S. Special Operations Command, a pair of tiny prototype data relay nodes for Swarm Technologies, a student-built payload from Australia, and a satellite whose identity and owner remain a secret.

Viasat swaps Ariane 5 launch for new Ariane 6 rocket

June 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Viasat has modified an existing contract with Arianespace to launch one of the company’s next-generation broadband Internet satellites on Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, rather than on-board an Ariane 5 launcher, officials announced Monday.

Photos: Falcon 9’s fog-enshrouded launch and landing at Vandenberg

June 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

These photos show the June 12 launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with three Earth-observing satellites for Canada’s Radarsat Constellation Mission.

Proton rocket, Russian-German astronomy satellite arrive at launch pad

June 14, 2019 Stephen Clark

A rocket-transporting railroad car ferried a Proton rocket to its launch pad Friday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final checkouts and testing before the vehicle’s scheduled June 21 liftoff with the Russian-German Spektr-RG X-ray telescope.