News – Page 119 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral at dawn

August 4, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s fifth mission of the year lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 6:29 a.m. EDT (1029 GMT) Thursday. An Atlas 5 rocket launched on a $1.2 billion mission with a U.S. Space Force missile warning satellite.

Cape Canaveral on the cusp of new records amid blistering launch rate

August 3, 2022 Stephen Clark

With two rockets from industry rivals United Launch Alliance and SpaceX ready for liftoff just 12 hours apart Thursday, the Cape Canaveral spaceport is poised to surpass the record for most missions in a year to fly into orbit from its launch pads. The launch day doubleheader would also mark the shortest span between two space launches from Florida’s Space Coast since 1967.

Final SBIRS missile warning satellite ready for launch

August 2, 2022 Stephen Clark

The last in a line of six satellites for the U.S. military’s Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS, missile warning program is ready for launch Thursday from Cape Canaveral on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket moved to launch pad with U.S. military missile warning satellite

August 2, 2022 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s next Atlas 5 rocket rolled out to its launch pad Tuesday at Cape Canaveral for a fiery blastoff at dawn Thursday with a U.S. military missile warning satellite.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches with NRO payload

August 1, 2022 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) Thursday, following delays to update software on the payload and to wait for better weather. Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifted off from New Zealand with a small classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.

South Korean spacecraft fueled for ride from Cape Canaveral to the moon

July 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

A South Korean spacecraft set for launch to the moon next week from Cape Canaveral has been loaded with the fuel it needs to maneuver into a low-altitude lunar orbit for image-taking and scientific observations.

Re-entry of large Chinese rocket booster spotted over Borneo

July 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

The 22-ton core stage of a Chinese rocket fell back to Earth Saturday, the third time in two years China has allowed such a large booster to re-enter the atmosphere uncontrolled. There were no immediate reports of wreckage or damage on the ground. Space debris experts said the unguided re-entry posed a low but avoidable risk to the world’s population.

Masten Space Systems, a NASA moon landing contractor, files for bankruptcy

July 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

Masten Space Systems, a private California company focused on developing lunar and planetary landing vehicles, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday after recent layoffs and funding problems.

NASA taps Draper for first U.S. landing on far side of the moon

July 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA has awarded Draper a $73 million contract to deliver science instruments to the far side of the moon on a commercial robotic lander in 2025, the eighth award through the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. Officials with the companies flying the first two CLPS missions, Astrobotic and Intuitive Machines, said recently their commercial landers are scheduled to launch late this year or early next year.

OneWeb to merge with Eutelsat, needs five more launches to complete network

July 26, 2022 Stephen Clark

OneWeb and Eutelsat announced plans to merge Tuesday, bringing together OneWeb’s network of internet satellites in low Earth orbit with Eutelsat’s fleet of larger video, data relay, and broadband platforms in geostationary orbit. OneWeb says it is on track to resume deploying its remaining internet satellites as soon as September, with three SpaceX flights and two Indian launches on tap to replace Russian Soyuz rockets no longer available after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.