2022 – Page 38 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Chinese space station crew launches into orbit

June 4, 2022 Stephen Clark

The next three-person crew heading to the Chinese Tiangong space station lifted off from northwestern China at 10:44 p.m. EDT Saturday (0244 GMT Sunday) on a fast-track rendezvous with the orbiting complex. Commander Chen Dong and astronauts Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe will aid in the construction of the Chinese space station.

Blue Origin launches six people to suborbital space

June 4, 2022 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard rocket propelled six people to an altitude of more than 60 miles over West Texas Saturday, including the first Mexican-born woman to fly to space. The company has now flown five missions carrying 25 people to suborbital space, and aims to nearly double that figure by the end of this year.

Chinese astronauts prep for six-month space station construction flight

June 4, 2022 Stephen Clark

Three Chinese military pilots are ready for launch Saturday on a Long March 2F rocket to begin a six-month expedition to help expand China’s space station in low Earth orbit, a mission slated to include the arrival of two modules and multiple spacewalks.

Russian Soyuz rocket launches with space station cargo freighter

June 3, 2022 Stephen Clark

Russia’s Progress MS-20 cargo freighter launched Friday on a fast-track, three-and-a-half hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver around three tons of fuel, food, and supplies for the lab’s seven-person crew.

Chinese automaker launches nine satellites to aid self-driving cars

June 2, 2022 Stephen Clark

China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group launched the first nine satellites of a planned constellation of 240 spacecraft Thursday, starting the deployment phase of a project intended to provide navigation and inter-vehicle communications for autonomous cars.

NASA awards contracts for next-generation space and moonsuits

June 1, 2022 William Harwood

Next-generation spacesuits, needed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station and by moonwalkers in the agency’s Artemis program, will be provided by two companies competing for contracts valued at up to $3.5 billion through 2034, NASA officials announced Wednesday.

UK-launched rocket promises to transform microsatellite launch business

May 30, 2022 Clive Simpson

The first launch of the Orbex Prime ‘eco-rocket’ from a remote launch pad in the Highlands of Scotland is expected at the end of the year or in early 2023. A full-scale prototype of Prime, billed as the world’s most environmentally-friendly rocket, was unveiled to the public for the first time this month.

NASA plans Artemis 1 moon rocket retest around June 19

May 27, 2022 William Harwood

NASA plans to haul its huge Space Launch System moon rocket back to the launch pad June 5-6 for a fourth attempt to load it with 730,000 gallons of supercold propellants in a dress-rehearsal countdown to clear the way for a maiden test flight later this summer, officials said Friday.

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft lands in New Mexico after successful test flight

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted to a “picture perfect” landing in southern New Mexico Wednesday, capping a six-day test flight to the International Space Station that NASA’s commercial crew program manager said paves the way for the next Starliner mission to carry astronauts.

SpaceX launches fifth Transporter rideshare mission

May 25, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday packed with 59 small satellites and research experiments, including an innovative commercial water-propelled orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus and a pair of NASA tech demos testing laser communications and proximity operations.