Clive Simpson – Spaceflight Now

Swiss company selects Arianespace to launch first space debris removal mission

May 27, 2023 Clive Simpson

Swiss-based in-orbit servicing startup ClearSpace has contracted Arianespace to launch its first debris removal mission to capture and deorbit a piece of space debris.

Electron rocket launches pair of cyclone-tracking CubeSats for NASA

May 8, 2023 Clive Simpson

The first pair of four NASA CubeSats designed to provide frequent updates of typhoon and hurricane development for new insights into how tropical storms evolve and intensify were launched by Rocket Lab from its New Zealand spaceport on Sunday.

Start of construction paves way for first UK mainland vertical launch

May 8, 2023 Clive Simpson

Rocket and launch services company Orbex has begun construction at Sutherland Spaceport in Scotland with a ground-breaking ceremony on May 5 that marked the start of the first vertical launch spaceport to be built on mainland UK.

Twin TROPICS satellites set to be lofted into orbit

May 5, 2023 Clive Simpson

Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s second pair of TROPICS hurricane research satellites, reassigned from Astra following a launch failure last year, has been rescheduled for Sunday after a delay due to unfavorable weather at the the company’s New Zealand spaceport.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has now flown more than 50 times

April 27, 2023 Clive Simpson

NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to outperform its design specifications, having now notched up more than 50 record-breaking forays across the Red Planet’s surface, 10 times as many flights as originally planned for.

How SpaceX’s Starship stacks up to other rockets

April 17, 2023 Clive Simpson

SpaceX Starship is set to propel itself into the record books today on its maiden flight, becoming the tallest, heaviest and most powerful rocket ever launched by humankind into space, topping a role call of famous and history-making heavy-lift launch vehicles including the mighty Saturn 5 that first took humans to the moon.

Mars rover completes first sample storage depot

February 14, 2023 Clive Simpson

NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars has cooly notched up another significant first by creating the first ever storage depot on another world for Martian soil samples. But if the rover’s mission goes to plan and it continues to operate as scheduled, the cached samples could be left on the Martian surface forever.

Satellites fail to reach orbit as first launch from UK ends in disappointment

January 10, 2023 Clive Simpson

An investigation has been launched after an attempt to make space history by sending satellites into orbit from British soil for the first time ended in failure Monday night due to an anomaly in the second stage of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.

Virgin Orbit counting down to first historic satellite launch from British soil

January 8, 2023 Clive Simpson

A new chapter in spaceflight history will be made Monday when the first ever satellites to be launched into orbit from Western Europe begin their journey into space inside a rocket slung beneath a converted jumbo jet carrier aircraft that will take off from Cornwall on the southwest peninsula of England.

NASA’s InSight lander bows out after ground-shaking Mars mission

December 21, 2022 Clive Simpson

Dust-laden solar panels and darker Martian skies have finally sealed the fate of NASA’s InSight mission, the agency announced Wednesday, after the intrepid lander delivered its final message from Mars at the end of its history-making mission to reveal the secrets of the Red Planet’s interior.