Mission Reports
Rocket Lab preps to launch flock of NASA-funded CubeSats
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket is set to launch 10 CubeSats developed at NASA field centers and U.S. research institutions Wednesday night (U.S. time) from the company’s privately-owned spaceport in New Zealand, a pathfinder mission that could pave the way for more NASA satellites to hitch a ride on future Electron flights.
Russian spacewalkers cut into Soyuz spaceship to inspect leak repair
Clad in pressurized spacesuits, Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev used knives and scissors to slice through insulation and a debris shield on a Soyuz spaceship set to return to Earth next week, finally reaching the capsule’s metallic hull to examine the site of an air leak plugged in August.
SpaceX makes another space station cargo delivery
A commercial supply ship owned and operated by SpaceX arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday, delivering a pair of NASA experiments to demonstrate satellite refueling techniques and monitor changes in Earth’s forests, along with a special holiday menu of turkey, candied yams, cranberry sauce and shortbread cookies.
Live coverage: Launch of ULA’s heavy-lift rocket aborted seconds before liftoff
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket was aborted around seven seconds prior to liftoff Saturday night at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The dramatic halt to the countdown was ordered by an automated sequencer just as the rocket’s three main engines were set to ignite. A new launch date has not been set for the mission, which will send a top secret National Reconnaissance Office spy payload into orbit.
China launches satellites for Saudi Arabia
Two Saudi Arabian Earth observation satellites and 10 small secondary payloads rode a Long March 2D rocket into orbit Friday from the Jiuquan space base in China’s northwestern Inner Mongolia region, hours before the launch of a Chinese lunar probe targeting the first soft landing on the far side of the moon.
