Stephen Clark – Page 486 – Spaceflight Now

Clouds in the forecast for Monday’s Falcon 9 launch

April 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

Forecasters will be watching clouds and rain showers during the countdown before Monday’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite.

Commercial Ariane 5 flight rescheduled for Sunday

April 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

Arianespace plans to launch an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on Sunday after fixing a disconnected helium vent line that required the launcher be returned to a hangar for repairs.

High-flying tune-ups gave us the Hubble generation

April 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

You can thank thousands of thinkers — unafraid to get their hands dirty — for the steady diet of discoveries and jaw-dropping vistas produced by the Hubble Space Telescope over the last quarter-century.

Live coverage: Two satellites lift off aboard Ariane 5

April 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Norwegian communications satellite designed to connect far-flung clients and a Franco-Italian military spacecraft blasted off Sunday aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana. Liftoff from the tropical spaceport occurred at 2000 GMT (4 p.m. EDT).

Ariane 5 in position for dual-satellite launch

April 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Rolling out for its first liftoff of the year, an Ariane 5 rocket journeyed out of a launcher assembly building Thursday and rode railroad tracks to its launch pad in French Guiana with two European communications satellites.

Environmental satellite with ‘color vision’ lands in French Guiana

April 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Wrapped inside a protective shipping container, Europe’s Sentinel 2A land imaging satellite flew from Germany to French Guiana this week aboard an Antonov transport plane to prepare for launch aboard a Vega rocket in June.

Decision on new space station cargo contracts deferred

April 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA expects to select commercial contractors to resupply the International Space Station in September, three months later than the agency’s previous timetable under a competition for cargo deliveries beginning in 2018.

ULA needs commercial customers to close Vulcan rocket business case

April 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance will need to lure commercial customers to ensure the economic viability of its new Vulcan rocket, which is set to debut in 2019 just as the rate of U.S. military satellite launches is due to take a dip.

Multiple satellites planned in long-term Landsat program

April 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

The launch of the next Landsat Earth-viewing satellite in 2023 will be preceded by a smaller spacecraft to map the planet with an infrared camera under a new land imaging roadmap outlined by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Dragon pad abort test set for early May

April 21, 2015 Stephen Clark

A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday.