News
Ariane 5 rocket launches new European Meteosat satellite, two Intelsat comsats
A European Ariane 5 rocket fired off a launching stand Tuesday in tropical South America with the vanguard of a modernized series of weather satellites to improve storm forecasts for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and two Intelsat television broadcasting satellites to cover the United States, a heavyweight payload totaling 12 tons.
First in new generation of European weather satellites ready for launch
The first in a new generation of European weather satellites is set for launch Tuesday on a mission that promises to improve the timeliness and precision of weather forecasts for Europe and Africa, sharing a ride to space from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket with two Intelsat communications satellites.
Artemis 1 back on Earth after near-flawless 25-day moon mission
NASA’s Orion spacecraft parachuted to a gentle splashdown in the Pacific Ocean Sunday west of Baja California, ending an unpiloted test flight to the moon that spanned 25-and-a-half days and 1.4 million miles, proving out a new rocket and capsule to carry astronauts back to Earth’s celestial companion.
Live coverage: NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashes down after moon mission
NASA’s unpiloted Orion spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound Sunday, surviving a fiery-hot descent before deploying parachutes and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California at 12:40 p.m. EST (1740 GMT). The Orion capsule successfully completed NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, a precursor to future astronaut missions on the spacecraft.
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight hitching ride to moon on SpaceX rocket
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight spacecraft, a small briefcase-size CubeSat that could break new ground in the search for water ice on the moon, is hitching a ride to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket along with the privately-developed Hakuto-R moon lander after missing a launch opportunity on NASA’s Artemis 1 mission.