Stephen Clark – Page 376 – Spaceflight Now

Cassini downlinks view of Titan’s methane clouds on third loop inside rings

May 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

The Cassini spacecraft captured a captivating image of wispy methane clouds suspended above Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes as the probe headed for its third shot through Saturn’s ring gap Tuesday.

James Webb Space Telescope shipped to Texas for its biggest test yet

May 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

The centerpiece of the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a three-month test to ensure the observatory’s sensors and gold-coated mirrors work in the frigid temperatures of deep space.

India launches satellite linking its South Asian neighbors

May 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off under a veil of secrecy Friday with a nearly 2.5-ton spacecraft designed to relay video broadcasts and data between India and its South Asian neighbors.

Bulgaria’s first communications satellite to ride SpaceX’s second reused rocket

May 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

A U.S.-built, Bulgarian-owned broadcast satellite will launch in mid-June from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a previously-used SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that first flew in January, officials said Friday.

Launches resume in French Guiana with dual-payload Ariane 5 flight

May 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

Running more than six weeks late after social unrest in French Guiana forced the closure of Europe’s launch base there, a commercial Ariane 5 rocket took off Thursday just after sunset with a pair of communications satellites manufactured in France for owners in Brazil and South Korea.

Photos: SpaceX kicks off the week with Falcon 9 launch and landing

May 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX started the week with the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after sunrise Monday, delivering a classified U.S. government spy satellite to orbit as the booster’s first stage returned to Cape Canaveral for a vertical landing.

Photos: Ariane 5 launcher on the eve of liftoff

May 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

A European Ariane 5 rocket sat poised for liftoff on a tropical launch pad Thursday nestled in the edge of the Amazon rainforest of South America.

Live coverage: Ariane 5 blasts off after short delay

May 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

An Ariane 5 rocket launched from French Guiana at 2150 GMT (5:50 p.m. EDT) Thursday with a pair of European-built communications satellites for the Brazilian government and KTsat, a South Korean telecom operator. Liftoff was delayed more than one hour to resolve a problem with ground equipment.

Timeline for Ariane 5’s launch of SGDC and Koreasat 7

May 3, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two European-made communications satellites destined to serve the Brazilian government and commercial customers across Asia are set to ride an Ariane 5 rocket into orbit Thursday.

Ariane 5 rocket rolled to launch pad with satellites for Brazil, South Korea

May 3, 2017 Stephen Clark

A month-and-a-half after a general strike in French Guiana halted launch preparations, an Ariane 5 rocket arrived at its launch pad Wednesday on the northeastern coast of South America, a day before hauling two communications satellites into orbit for the Brazilian government and a South Korean company.