Stephen Clark – Page 201 – Spaceflight Now

Japan launches optical spy satellite

February 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

Japan launched an optical reconnaissance satellite from the Tanegashima Space Center Sunday aboard an H-2A rocket after a 12-day delay caused by a nitrogen leak.

Florida launch base to be renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

February 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

The military-run spaceport at Cape Canaveral will soon be renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to reflect the facility’s transition from the U.S. Air Force to the newly-created Space Force, military officials said Friday.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 launches from Cape Canaveral with Solar Orbiter

February 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Sunday night with the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter mission, a project developed in partnership with NASA. Launch occurred right on time at the opening of a two-hour window at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday (0403 GMT Monday).

SpaceX considers Starlink spinoff as teams ready for mid-February launch

February 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says it is considering spinning off its Starlink broadband Internet project into a separate company, while teams at Cape Canaveral ready to launch around 60 more of the flat-panel data relay nodes into Earth orbit as soon as Feb. 15.

Successful Soyuz launch deploys 34 satellites for OneWeb network

February 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz launcher fired into orbit from the remote steppe of Kazakhstan Thursday with 34 satellites built on Florida’s Space Coast, commencing a sequence of launches to deploy a network of nearly 650 spacecraft for a global broadband network owned by OneWeb.

Photos: Soyuz rocket poised for launch with 34 OneWeb satellites

February 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz-2.1b booster is standing at the Complex 31 launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for liftoff with 34 OneWeb broadband satellites early Friday, local time.

SpaceX wins contract to launch NASA’s PACE Earth science mission

February 5, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has won an $80 million contract to launch a NASA environmental research satellite aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in late 2022 to collect data on ocean ecosystems and clouds, a mission that the Trump administration wished to cancel.

Live coverage: Space station crew safely returns to Earth

February 5, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Russian Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft departed the International Space Station and landed in Kazakhstan Thursday, bringing home outgoing space station commander Luca Parmitano, Soyuz pilot Alexander Skvortsov, and NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who concluded a 328-day mission, the longest-ever spaceflight by a woman. The Soyuz undocked from the station at 0550 GMT (12:50 a.m. EST) Thursday, then landed on the Kazakh steppe at 0912 GMT (4:12 a.m. EST).

Soyuz rolls out to launch pad with OneWeb satellites

February 4, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz-2.1b booster loaded with 34 satellites for OneWeb’s global Internet network rolled out of its assembly building Monday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and rode a rail car to its launch pad for final preflight checks before liftoff Thursday.

First satellites off OneWeb’s new Florida assembly line set for launch this week

February 4, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first 34 satellites manufactured on a new commercial spacecraft assembly line just outside the gates of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are scheduled for liftoff on a Soyuz rocket Thursday halfway around the world in Kazakhstan, kicking off a sequence of up to 20 launches from three countries to deploy nearly 650 satellites for OneWeb’s global Internet network.