News – Page 343 – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s last shuttle commander to helm test flight of Boeing crew capsule

August 2, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s last space shuttle commander — former U.S. Navy fighter pilot Chris Ferguson — will fly Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner crew capsule on its first piloted test mission to the International Space Station next year.

Boeing delays crew capsule test flights after abort engine problem

August 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

Boeing has reshuffled a sequence of test flights planned for the company’s CST-100 Starliner capsule after stuck valves inside a test version of the ship’s service module caused a fuel spill in June, delaying the commercial spacecraft’s first unpiloted orbital demo mission until late this year or early 2019, and moving back the first crew launch to mid-2019, a company official said Wednesday.

Long March 4B rocket lofts Chinese Earth-observing satellite

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

A sharp-eyed Chinese Earth-imaging satellite rode a Long March 4B booster into orbit Tuesday, tying the record for the highest number of space launches China has achieved in a single year.

Solar probe moves into launch position at Cape Canaveral

July 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, fueled and buttoned up for liftoff Aug. 11 on the first mission to fly through the sun’s corona, arrived at its launch pad at Cape Canaveral early Tuesday after a convoy trip from a nearby fueling and test facility.

Photos: Ariane 5 blasts off with Galileo satellites

July 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Look back on last week’s blastoff of an Ariane 5 rocket from the edge of the Amazon jungle in French Guiana carrying four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.

Another pair of Chinese navigation satellites successfully launched

July 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket launched two satellites Sunday to become the eighth and ninth spacecraft added to the country’s Beidou navigation system so far this year.

TESS’s planet hunt begins

July 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s newest observatory in space has started its search for planets around other stars, officials said Friday, as astronomers zero in on worlds that are ripe for research by follow-up missions like the James Webb Space Telescope.

Virgin Galactic’s rocket plane climbs closer to space

July 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, built to eventually carry commercial passengers to the edge of space, accomplished another powered test flight into the rarefied upper atmosphere Thursday with two pilots on-board.

Video: Ariane 5 takes off from French Guiana

July 26, 2018 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of the liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket Wednesday from the Guiana Space Center, a spaceport carved from the edge of the Amazon rainforest. The launcher carried four Galileo navigation satellites into orbit.

Video: Falcon 9 lifts off in a veil of fog

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A thick marine layer blanketing Vandenberg Air Force Base in California restricted views of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off early Wednesday, but cameras fixed to the launcher provided spectacular imagery of the predawn departure with 10 Iridium satellites on-board.