July 2019 – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Russia launches international X-ray astronomy mission

July 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket and Block DM upper stage climbed into space Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Spektr-RG, an astronomical observatory with dual X-ray telescopes developed by Russian and German scientists on the hunt for the signature of dark energy.

India seeks to join exclusive company with ambitious moon mission

July 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

India’s ambitious $142 million Chandrayaan 2 moon mission, comprising a orbiter, lander and rover, is set for liftoff Sunday to begin a nearly two-month transit culminating in a touchdown near the lunar south pole in September.

Live coverage: Proton rocket lifts off with X-ray astronomy observatory

July 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy mission at 1230:57 GMT (8:30:57 a.m. EDT) Saturday.

GSLV Mk.3 rolls out for launch of Indian moon mission

July 12, 2019 Stephen Clark

The 142-foot-tall rocket that will send aloft India’s Chandrayaan 2 moon mission Sunday has arrived on its launch pad on the Indian east coast.

Proton launch delayed to Saturday

July 12, 2019 Stephen Clark

Russian officials have delayed until Saturday the launch of a Proton rocket from Kazakhstan with the Spektr-RG X-ray astronomy observatory, an ambitious mission jointly developed with Germany to probe dark energy.

ULA delays Atlas 5 launch to August

July 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance is pushing back its next Atlas 5 launch from Cape Canaveral until no earlier than Aug. 8, allowing time for engineers to ensure an unspecified anomaly during component testing at a supplier will have no impact on the Atlas 5’s mission to place a U.S. Air Force communications satellite into orbit.

Japanese spacecraft snags second sample from asteroid

July 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

Scientists celebrated another success with Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft late Wednesday (U.S. time), when the robot explorer accomplished a second pinpoint touch-and-go landing on asteroid Ryugu, this time to collect a sample of pristine dust and rock excavated by an explosive impactor earlier this year.

UAE military satellite lost in Vega launch failure

July 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

A European Vega launcher failed Wednesday night around two minutes after liftoff from French Guiana and fell into the Atlantic Ocean, destroying an Airbus-built surveillance satellite for the United Arab Emirates.

Four Russian military satellites launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

July 11, 2019 Stephen Clark

Four unidentified Russian military satellites rode a modified Soyuz booster into orbit Wednesday from a remote space base north of Moscow.

NASA shakes up moon program management

July 11, 2019 William Harwood

In a major shakeup at NASA Headquarters, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Wednesday that Bill Gerstenmaier, the widely respected director of human spaceflight, has been replaced in the midst of an ambitious push to meet the Trump administration’s directive to send astronauts back to the moon within five years.