Stephen Clark – Page 112 – Spaceflight Now

New solar arrays ready to upgrade International Space Station’s power grid

June 2, 2021 Stephen Clark

Two new solar array wings for the International Space Station are packed inside the trunk of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule for launch Thursday from the Kennedy Space Center, the first pair of six upgraded roll-out panels to give the orbiting outpost a power boost.

Cargo ship docks with Chinese space station

May 31, 2021 Stephen Clark

China’s robotic Tianzhou 2 cargo ship launched Saturday on top of a Long March 7 rocket and docked with the core module of the country’s space station eight hours later, delivering fuel, crew supplies, extravehicular spacesuits, and other gear in preparation for the arrival of three astronauts in June.

OneWeb surpasses 200 satellites with Soyuz launch

May 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

Launching through heavy rainfall, a Soyuz booster vaulted away from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia to place 36 more OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Friday, giving the London-based company a fleet of 218 spacecraft, one-third of its planned constellation.

Five launches planned from Florida’s Space Coast in June

May 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

More than three-quarters of the launches from Florida’s Space Coast so far this year have deployed SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, but the focus will shift to other customers in June. Five rocket flights are scheduled to lift off from the spaceport next month for the U.S. Space Force, NASA, and commercial companies.

Photos: Falcon 9 launches 60 more Starlink internet satellites

May 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

These photos show the liftoff from Cape Canaveral and climb into space of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday. The launch carried 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit and set a new record for payload fairing reuse, with one half of the nose cone making its fifth flight.

Mars helicopter ‘muscles through’ navigation glitch on sixth flight

May 27, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter safely landed after wobbling, suffering power spikes, and enduring velocity fluctuations on its sixth flight at Mars, officials said Wednesday.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches with OneWeb satellites

May 27, 2021 Stephen Clark

The next 36 satellites for OneWeb’s internet network launched at 1:38 p.m. EDT (1738 GMT) Friday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Russian officials scrubbed a launch attempt Thursday to replace a faulty inertial measurement unit on the Soyuz rocket.

First phase of SpaceX’s Starlink network nears completion with Falcon 9 launch

May 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

The launch of 60 more Starlink satellites Wednesday from Cape Canaveral could give SpaceX enough spacecraft to complete the first layer of its privately-funded global internet network, but the company shows no signs of slowing its launch cadence this summer.

Firefly selects SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch NASA-chartered moon lander

May 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace has selected SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to launch the company’s first commercial lunar lander mission in 2023 with 10 NASA-sponsored research payloads.

NASA to develop $2.5 billion, five-satellite Earth System Observatory

May 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

The Biden administration announced this week that NASA will develop a series of five Earth science satellite missions over the next decade, part of a $2.5 billion program called the Earth System Observatory to collect climate and geological data identified as priorities in a 2018 decadal survey.