2022 – Page 34 – Spaceflight Now

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.

NASA not planning another Artemis 1 countdown dress rehearsal

June 22, 2022 Stephen Clark

Forgoing another countdown rehearsal, NASA plans to return the first Space Launch System rocket to its assembly hangar at the Kennedy Space Center next week for a hydrogen leak repair and continued preparations for liftoff on the Artemis 1 moon mission.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 launches from French Guiana with two satellites

June 22, 2022 Stephen Clark

A European Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:50 p.m. EDT (2150 GMT) Wednesday with the Malaysian MEASAT 3d communications satellite and India’s GSAT 24 television broadcast spacecraft. This mission marked the Ariane 5 flight in six months.

Arianespace preps for first Ariane 5 launch of the year

June 21, 2022 Stephen Clark

Two geostationary communications satellites for India’s space agency and a Malaysian company will rocket into orbit from the jungle of South America on Wednesday on a European-built Ariane 5 launcher.

South Korea’s all-domestic satellite launcher reaches orbit for first time

June 21, 2022 Stephen Clark

South Korea’s space agency said Tuesday that the country’s 15-story-tall Nuri launcher successfully reached orbit for the first time, giving the nation a fully domestic satellite launch capability after a $1.5 billion development program lasting more than a decade.

NASA’s Artemis moon rocket fully fueled for first time in practice countdown

June 20, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA loaded more than three-quarters of a million gallons of super-cold propellant into the first Space Launch System moon rocket Monday in Florida, achieving key milestones in a practice countdown but falling short of all the test objectives after discovering a new hydrogen leak.

Live coverage: NASA runs another countdown rehearsal for SLS moon rocket

June 20, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA ran through a countdown rehearsal for the Space Launch System moon rocket Monday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch team loaded more than 750,000 gallons of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the more than 30-story-tall rocket, a key test before a demonstration flight later this year.

SpaceX launches third Falcon 9 rocket in less than two days

June 19, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX hauled a Globalstar communications satellite into orbit early Sunday from Cape Canaveral, pulling off the third Falcon 9 rocket flight in 36 hours, the fastest sequence of three missions by any commercial launch company in history.