News – Spaceflight Now

December 5, 2020

Breaking News

[ December 5, 2020 ] Live coverage: Hayabusa 2 set to return asteroid samples to Earth Mission Reports
[ December 5, 2020 ] Japanese asteroid sampling mission on course for return to Earth Mission Reports
[ December 4, 2020 ] Photos: Upgraded Dragon cargo capsule rolls out to pad 39A Falcon 9
[ December 4, 2020 ] Space station to receive new commercial airlock from Nanoracks Falcon 9
[ December 3, 2020 ] China’s Chang’e 5 sample return craft takes off from the moon Mission Reports

Live coverage: Hayabusa 2 set to return asteroid samples to Earth

December 5, 2020

Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission returns to Earth Saturday after a six-year mission to collect samples from asteroid Ryugu. The mission’s sample return capsule is scheduled to land in the Australian outback around 12:47 p.m. EST (1747 GMT) Saturday.

Japanese asteroid sampling mission on course for return to Earth

December 5, 2020

Six years after departing Earth, Japan’s Hayabusa 2 spacecraft released a spinning capsule Saturday containing pristine asteroid material for a scorching re-entry and landing in the remote Australian outback, where teams are standing by to retrieve the specimens for analysis.

Photos: Upgraded Dragon cargo capsule rolls out to pad 39A

December 4, 2020

Ready for a flight to the International Space Station, SpaceX’s first upgraded Dragon cargo capsule rolled out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week in preparation for launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket.

Space station to receive new commercial airlock from Nanoracks

December 4, 2020

A privately-funded airlock from Nanoracks will head for the International Space Station this weekend in the trunk of a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule, adding to the orbiting lab’s capacity for scientific experiments in another milestone for commercial space development.

China’s Chang’e 5 sample return craft takes off from the moon

December 3, 2020

Wrapping up a busy two days on the lunar surface, a Chinese spacecraft carrying moon soil took off from a makeshift launch pad and fired back into orbit Thursday on the first leg of its journey back to Earth.

Soyuz rocket lifts off from Plesetsk with Russian relay satellites

December 3, 2020

Three Russian Gonets communications satellites launched late Wednesday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, riding a Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage into orbit on the second successful Soyuz mission in less than 24 hours.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket counting down to Cargo Dragon launch

December 3, 2020

SpaceX has rolled out a Falcon 9 rocket to pad 39A for the first launch of an upgraded version of the company’s Dragon cargo capsule for the International Space Station. A test-firing was accomplished Thursday ahead of a scheduled launch Saturday at 11:39 a.m. EST (1639 GMT), weather permitting.

Chinese probe completes sample collection work on lunar surface

December 2, 2020

Chinese officials said the Chang’e 5 mission finished drilling and scooping samples from a lunar lava plain late Wednesday, hours before the spacecraft’s robotic ascender was due to take off from the moon to begin the trip back to Earth.

Video replay of Chang’e 5’s landing on the moon

December 2, 2020

The China National Space Administration released an accelerated video replay of the Chang’e 5 spacecraft’s landing in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the moon Tuesday.

Soyuz rocket launches Emirati military satellite after lengthy delay

December 2, 2020

After months of delays caused by launch vehicle issues and the coronavirus pandemic, a Russian Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage took off from South America and delivered the French-built Falcon Eye 2 military observation satellite to an on-target orbit Tuesday night for the United Arab Emirates.

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