June 2022 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX mission this week to kick off busy launch calendar for SES

June 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

A new European-built television broadcasting satellite to cover the United States is set for liftoff Wednesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the first of 11 SES-owned telecom spacecraft scheduled to fly on six launches from Cape Canaveral by the end of the year.

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship departs space station

June 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

A commercial Cygnus supply ship from Northrop Grumman departed the International Space Station Tuesday, completing a four-month stay after delivering more than 8,000 pounds of cargo and boosting the research lab into a slightly higher orbit. The Cygnus spacecraft was expected to deploy a CubeSat before heading for a destructive re-entry.

Live coverage: NASA moon mission launches with Rocket Lab

June 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

A Rocket Lab launcher lifted off Tuesday with NASA’s CAPSTONE mission, a small spacecraft the size of a microwave oven heading to the moon as a pathfinder for the Gateway lunar space station. Liftoff of the Electron booster from New Zealand occurred at 5:55 a.m. EDT (0955 GMT).

Mini-mission to blaze NASA’s trail back to the moon

June 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA and commercial companies are ready to launch a 55-pound spacecraft from New Zealand to the moon Tuesday on a scouting mission to the orbit where engineers plan to assemble the Gateway mini-space station, a waypoint for astronauts flying to and from the lunar surface.

After software delays, NASA says Psyche asteroid mission won’t launch this year

June 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA’s billion-dollar Psyche asteroid mission will not launch this year, officials confirmed Friday, after delays in completing software verification testing for the spacecraft’s guidance, navigation and control system.

NASA targeting late summer launch for first Artemis moon rocket

June 24, 2022 Stephen Clark

With a series of practice countdowns complete, NASA managers said Friday the powerful Space Launch System rocket could be ready for its first test flight in late August or early September to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule around the moon.

European probe images Mercury’s cratered landscape on second flyby

June 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

Following a first pass last year, the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission flew by Mercury again Thursday for a gravity assist to continue reshaping its trajectory, setting up for a maneuver in 2025 to settle in an orbit around the planet closest to the sun.

Second segment added to Starship launch tower at Kennedy Space Center

June 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

The second section of the Florida launch tower for SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy and Starship rocket was lifted on top of the first tower segment Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center, continuing construction of a structure that will stand more than 400 feet tall.

ULA’s next launch for Space Force is less than a week away

June 23, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral are in the final week of preparations for the next flight of an Atlas 5 rocket, set for liftoff with two U.S. military technology demonstration satellites June 30, a one-day delay after bad weather held up launch processing.

Ariane 5 rocket deploys satellites for Malaysia and India

June 22, 2022 Stephen Clark

Two multi-ton geostationary communications satellites for Malaysian and Indian operators launched on a European heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday from French Guiana, leaving four Ariane 5s left to fly before retirement.