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Q&A with Guido Levrini, ESA’s manager of the Copernicus space segment
Europe is in the midst of launching the most thorough space-based environmental network ever deployed, with satellites to help officials respond to natural disasters, measure crop yield, monitor the health of oceans and ice caps, and track ozone in the atmosphere. Guido Levrini from ESA spoke to Spaceflight Now about the program on the eve of Sentinel 1B’s launch.
Mission Reports
Starliner test flight to use special Atlas 5 configuration, unusual launch trajectory
The 81st flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, set for liftoff Friday from Cape Canaveral, will come with its share of firsts when it sends Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule toward the International Space Station on an unpiloted test flight. The launcher will fly without a payload shroud, which typically envelopes satellites during liftoff, and it will debut an uprated dual-engine Centaur upper stage that will power the Starliner on a unique suborbital trajectory optimized for astronaut comfort.
Mission Reports