Stephen Clark – Page 456 – Spaceflight Now

Intelligence-gathering satellite launched by China

November 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

China launched a government-owned surveillance satellite Sunday, adding another member to the country’s reconnaissance network after liftoff on a Long March 4B booster.

Launch managers sign off on final Ariane 5 flight of 2015

November 7, 2015 Stephen Clark

A launch readiness review Friday cleared an Ariane 5 rocket for liftoff Tuesday with two communications satellites for Arabsat and India, the first three missions from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana scheduled in less than 40 days.

Planning for December Falcon 9 launch, Orbcomm ships satellites

November 6, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first shipment of Orbcomm’s 11-satellite payload for the Falcon 9 rocket’s first flight since a June launch failure has arrived at Cape Canaveral, and the rest of the spacecraft will reach the Florida spaceport in the coming days, Orbcomm officials said Thursday.

New Horizons takes aim on next target

November 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

In a triumph of deep space navigation and with Pluto shrinking in its wake, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has steered on a course to reach a tiny object named 2014 MU69 for a whirlwind visit on New Year’s Day 2019.

NASA delays cargo award again, eliminates Boeing from contention

November 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA has delayed the award of new contracts for cargo transportation services between Earth and the International Space Station, and eliminated an uncrewed version of Boeing’s human-rated CST-100 Starliner capsule from the competition, officials said Thursday.

NASA quietly posts images of explosive Antares failure

November 5, 2015 Stephen Clark

Less than a week after publishing the results of an independent investigation into last year’s Antares rocket failure, NASA has released new photos of the catastrophic crash just after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia.

Air Force declares failure on Super Strypi test launch

November 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first flight of an experimental U.S. military rocket designed for low-cost, quick-reaction satellite launches ended in failure over Hawaii on Tuesday, the Air Force said, destroying 13 small research spacecraft clustered on the mission for NASA researchers and university students.

Video clips show rocket anomaly high above Hawaii

November 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Videos of Tuesday’s sunset liftoff of the U.S. military’s Super Strypi launcher show the low-cost fin-guided rocket streaking into the skies over Hawaii and arcing downrange toward the south with 13 satellites before apparently losing control and breaking up.

Military communications craft likely aboard Chinese launch

November 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket lifted off Tuesday from the country’s Xichang space base, heading into orbit with a secretive payload believed by Western observers to be a military communications satellite.

Hawaii’s first satellite launch set for Tuesday

November 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

U.S. military authorities have granted approval for liftoff Tuesday of a simplified satellite launcher from Hawaii on a test flight officials say will help drive down the costs of sending small spacecraft into orbit.