Stephen Clark – Page 465 – Spaceflight Now

‘Big three’ nab commercial launch contracts

September 15, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX announced Monday two new Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rocket missions from Cape Canaveral, Arianespace said it cinched a contract to launch a Japanese TV broadcasting satellite, and International Launch Services revealed a deal to launch a Spanish telecommunications payload, ending a drought in commercial Proton launch orders.

China conducts two space launches in short span

September 14, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two space launches from China in a 37-hour span have placed an experimental communications satellite and a sharp-eyed Earth-viewing craft into orbit, according to Chinese state media reports.

Proton rocket takes off with Express AM8 communications bird

September 14, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Proton rocket fired away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, kicking off a nearly seven-hour flight that concluded with the high-altitude delivery of a new Russian communications satellite into orbit.

New Russian telecom satellite awaits launch Monday

September 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

A new multipurpose Russian communications satellite to be parked over the Atlantic Ocean is awaiting launch Monday aboard a Proton rocket.

Photos: Soyuz blasts off from the jungle

September 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

A late-night liftoff Thursday lit up the forested shoreline of South America as a Russian-made Soyuz rocket streaked into orbit with two new satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system. Relive the launch with a video replay and photos of the fiery departure.

Launch brings Galileo navigation system into double digits

September 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Russian rocket released two Galileo navigation satellites nearly 15,000 miles above Earth early Friday, adding to a growing fleet giving Europe an independent space-based positioning system tracking automobiles, airplanes and cell phone-carrying people around the world.

Scientists revel in latest Pluto close-ups

September 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

Fresh views from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft released Thursday reveal diverse landscapes on Pluto, possible dune fields, mysterious channels, and nitrogen ice flows in greater detail than ever before, but it is just the tip of the iceberg as data from the far-flung probe resumes streaming back to Earth.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches to expand Europe’s navigation system

September 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket lifted off from South America late Thursday to haul up the next two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system, giving the network its ninth and 10th operational members. Launch occurred at 0208:10 GMT Friday (10:08:10 p.m. EDT Thursday).

Soyuz/Galileo launch timeline

September 10, 2015 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system.

Dawn gets better look at bright spots on Ceres

September 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, nearly halfway through its exploration of the dwarf planet Ceres, has returned its best images yet of a mysterious grouping of bright spots inside a crater on the Texas-sized world, bolstering evidence that Ceres is geologically alive.