Stephen Clark – Page 107 – Spaceflight Now

Virgin Orbit planning to launch seven small satellites Wednesday

June 29, 2021 Stephen Clark

On the heels of its first successful orbital launch in January, Virgin Orbit is gearing up for its first operational mission Wednesday with a flight of its air-launched rocket off the coast of California to deploy seven small satellites.

Russia successfully launches space station resupply ship

June 29, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Russian Progress supply ship launched Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, commencing a two-day chase of the International Space Station with more than 5,000 pounds of fuel, water, spare parts, and experiments.

Cygnus supply ship departs space station after four-month mission

June 29, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Cygnus spacecraft owned by Northrop Grumman departed the International Space Station Tuesday, concluding a four-month mission that delivered more than 8,000 pounds of cargo. The automated resupply freighter will deploy five small CubeSats before re-entering the atmosphere and burning up over the Pacific Ocean.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches smallsat rideshare mission into polar orbit

June 29, 2021 Stephen Clark

A day after a last-minute scrub caused by an aircraft in restricted airspace, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:31 p.m. EDT (1931 GMT) Wednesday from Cape Canaveral. The rocket carried 88 small satellites into polar orbit. The vehicle’s first stage successfully returned to Cape Canaveral for landing about eight-and-a-half minutes after liftoff.

Space Development Agency’s first satellites to launch on SpaceX mission

June 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

Five payloads from the Space Development Agency, an organization charged with rapidly infusing emerging technologies into the U.S. military’s space programs, are among more than 80 satellites awaiting launch from Cape Canaveral Tuesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX launch this week will feature first onshore rocket landing since December

June 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a southerly coast-hugging trajectory from Cape Canaveral Tuesday to place 88 small satellites into a polar orbit. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster will return to Florida’s Space Coast for the first onshore rocket landing at Cape Canaveral since December.

Russia launches military satellite for naval surveillance

June 27, 2021 Stephen Clark

Russia’s military launched the first of a new type of ship-locating radar imaging satellite Friday aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Declining power supply could end NASA’s InSight Mars mission next year

June 27, 2021 Stephen Clark

Without a fortuitous whirlwind to clear dust off its solar panels, NASA’s InSight lander could end its mission on Mars within a year due to dropping power levels, the project’s chief scientist said last week.

SpaceX postpones second Transporter rideshare launch

June 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX said Thursday it has postponed the next launch of a Falcon 9 rocket, previously scheduled for Friday at Cape Canaveral, due to unspecified technical concerns. The Falcon 9 will launch on a commercial rideshare mission with more than 80 small satellites.

Interstage adapter installed on Space Launch System

June 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA has stacked the next piece of the agency’s first Space Launch System moon rocket, adding an adapter structure to connect the launch vehicle’s core stage and upper stage, which is scheduled to be installed next week.