August 2019 – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Chinasat 18 communications satellite encounters problem after launch

August 20, 2019 Stephen Clark

A communications satellite designed to deliver broadband services to rural China, airline passengers and maritime vessels suffered “abnormalities” after separating from its Long March 3B launcher Monday, Chinese state media confirmed Tuesday.

Chandrayaan 2 arrives in lunar orbit, targets moon landing next month

August 20, 2019 Stephen Clark

India’s Chandrayaan 2 spacecraft braked into orbit around the moon Tuesday, positioning the robotic science mission for a landing in the moon’s south pole region Sept. 6.

Rocket Lab launch fulfills initial block of BlackSky Earth-imaging satellites

August 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

The fourth and last spacecraft in BlackSky’s initial flock of commercial Earth-imaging microsatellites successfully launched Monday aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket with three other payloads, setting the stage for the final assembly and launch of at least 20 more BlackSky orbiting surveillance platforms starting later this year.

Launch providers announce rideshare missions large and small

August 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and Arianespace recently announced plans to launch rideshare missions to sun-synchronous and geostationary orbit, dedicating big rocket capacity for small satellites as the U.S.-based launch broker Spaceflight committed to using a new Indian microsatellite launcher set to debut later this year.

ULA’s second launch of the month scheduled for Thursday

August 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

Weather forecasters expect a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at Cape Canaveral for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket Thursday with a GPS navigation satellite, marking the last flight of the Delta 4’s single-core variant after 29 flights since 2002.

China’s Jielong 1 smallsat launcher successful on first flight

August 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

A solid-fueled small satellite launcher named Jielong 1 fired into orbit Saturday on its first flight from northwestern China, debuting a new rocket developed by a spinoff of China’s state-owned launch vehicle manufacturer using a “commercial business model.”

NASA directs Alabama space center to manage lunar lander program

August 16, 2019 William Harwood

Despite protests from Texas lawmakers, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will manage the agency’s plans to build a lunar landing system that will carry the next man and the first woman to the surface of the moon in 2024, agency Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Friday.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches four satellites

August 16, 2019 Stephen Clark

Three days after high winds scrubbed a launch attempt Friday, Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket with four satellites from New Zealand at 1212 GMT (8:12 a.m. EDT) Monday.

Smallsat companies teaming up on deorbit experiment

August 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

TriSept Corp. has announced plans for a commercial technology demonstration mission set for launch next year on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle to test a deployable conductive tape, made by Tethers Unlimited, that could help small satellites more quickly fall out of orbit at the end of their missions.

Photos: Atlas 5 blasts off with U.S. Air Force communications payload

August 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 8 with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite, the second launch from Florida’s Coast in a span of less than 35 hours.