Stephen Clark – Page 319 – Spaceflight Now

Robert Lightfoot, NASA’s longest-serving interim administrator, to retire

March 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot, a rocket propulsion engineer and career civil servant who has led the space agency since the beginning of the Trump administration, said Monday he will retire from the space agency at the end of April.

SpaceX’s most recent launch carried a secret military-funded experiment

March 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceX’s most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday.

Four O3b satellites launched to beam Internet to developing world

March 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

Four satellites set to join O3b’s expanding broadband network successfully launched Friday on top of a Russian-built Soyuz booster from French Guiana, joining 12 other craft linking developing nations, far-flung islands, cruise ships and other hard-to-reach locales with the Internet.

Video: Replay of Soyuz takeoff with four O3b broadband satellites

March 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from French Guiana with four broadband satellites for the O3b network, which provides high-speed connectivity to developing countries, ships and other customers who lack a reliable Internet link.

Eutelsat plans satellite to assess potential for low-altitude constellation

March 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

Joining other established commercial geostationary satellite operators looking at fleets of communications platforms in low Earth orbit, Eutelsat announced Thursday it will launch a small testbed next year as a precursor to a potential network of data relay craft flying a few hundred miles above the planet.

Live coverage: Soyuz rocket lifts off with four O3b broadband satellites

March 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Russian-built Soyuz booster lifted off Friday from the European-run spaceport in French Guiana, carrying four new broadband Internet satellites to orbit to join the O3b network owned by SES. Launch occurred at 1710:06 GMT (12:10:06 p.m. EST).

Europe’s ExoMars orbiter nears start of methane-sniffing science mission

March 7, 2018 Stephen Clark

Nearly a year-and-a-half after arriving at the red planet, Europe’s ExoMars orbiter is finally approaching a planned perch around 250 miles over the rust-colored world after repeatedly dipping into the Martian atmosphere to lower its orbit.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lights up the night with launch for Hispasat

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight took off from Florida’s Space Coast shortly after midnight Tuesday with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, firing into a moonlit night sky with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

Photos: Atlas 5 blasts off with GOES-S weather satellite

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

NOAA’s newest weather satellite, heading for a perch with coverage over the western United States and the Pacific Ocean, launched March 1 from Cape Canaveral on top of an Atlas 5 rocket.

Hefty Hispasat satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Spanish-owned, U.S.-built commercial communications satellite climbed into orbit early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral on the 50th flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching on a 15-year mission to relay video, data and broadband signals across the Americas, Europe and North Africa.