Mission Reports – Spaceflight Now

February 27, 2020

Breaking News

[ February 26, 2020 ] NASA’s InSight mission shows Mars is a seismically active world Mission Reports
[ February 24, 2020 ] Fresh out of stealth mode, Astra gearing up for orbital launch from Alaska Mission Reports
[ February 20, 2020 ] Phobos sample return mission enters development for 2024 launch Mission Reports
[ February 20, 2020 ] Soyuz rocket launches Russian military satellite after one-month delay Mission Reports
[ February 19, 2020 ] China launches four ‘technology experiment satellites’ Mission Reports

NASA’s InSight mission shows Mars is a seismically active world

February 26, 2020

While one of its two science instruments remains sidelined, NASA’s InSight probe has proven Mars is seismically active through the detection of hundreds of quakes, some of which can be traced to a volcanic region nearly 1,000 miles away.

Fresh out of stealth mode, Astra gearing up for orbital launch from Alaska

February 24, 2020

Some time in the next few days, a California-based company that has quietly toiled to develop a new light-class satellite launcher since 2016 will attempt to send three CubeSats into orbit from Kodiak Island, Alaska, on the first of two missions scheduled before the end of March to win up to $12 million in prize money from the U.S. military.

Phobos sample return mission enters development for 2024 launch

February 20, 2020

Japan’s space agency has approved a robotic mission to retrieve a sample from the Martian moon Phobos for return to Earth to begin full development for a planned launch in 2024, officials said Thursday.

Soyuz rocket launches Russian military satellite after one-month delay

February 20, 2020

A Russian military communications satellite rode a Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage Thursday into an orbit stretching nearly 25,000 miles (40,000 kilometers) above Earth, successfully launching after a one-month delay to replace a suspect third stage on the Soyuz booster.

China launches four ‘technology experiment satellites’

February 19, 2020

A Chinese Long March 2D rocket carried four “technology experiment satellites” into orbit Wednesday from the Xichang space center in southwestern China, according to the country’s state-run media.

Russian space agency replaces cosmonauts on next space station crew

February 19, 2020

Citing medical reasons, Russia’s space agency announced Wednesday that it is replacing two cosmonauts who were scheduled to fly on the next Soyuz mission to the International Space Station in April with backup crew members.

Photos: Antares rocket lifts off with station-bound Cygnus supply ship

February 19, 2020

Powered by two Russian-made RD-181 main engines, a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket fired into a mostly sunny sky Saturday afternoon over Virginia’s Eastern Shore carrying nearly 7,500 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.

Ariane 5 deploys communications and environmental monitoring satellites

February 18, 2020

A Japanese-owned communications satellite built in Colorado and a South Korean environmental monitoring observatory shared an Ariane 5 rocket ride into orbit Tuesday from the South American jungle.

Space Adventures announces plans to fly private citizens on SpaceX crew capsule

February 18, 2020

Building on development for NASA’s commercial crew program, Space Adventures announced an agreement Tuesday with SpaceX to fly up to four paying space tourists on a standalone mission aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft in late 2021 or 2022 that could reach an altitude two-to-three times higher than the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Japanese and South Korean satellites launch on Ariane 5 rocket

February 18, 2020

A European-built Ariane 5 rocket launched Tuesday with a U.S.-made communications satellite for Tokyo-based Sky Perfect JSAT and a South Korean environmental observatory. The heavy-lift Ariane 5 launcher took off from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, at 5:18 p.m. EST (2218 GMT; 7:18 p.m. French Guiana time).

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