News – Page 449 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Delta 4 launches from California with spy satellite

January 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance kicked off its 2018 launch campaign with a Delta 4 rocket flight at 2:11 p.m. PST (5:11 p.m. EST; 2211 GMT) Friday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Gusty winds forced officials to call off a launch attempt Wednesday, and technical problems halted a countdown Thursday multiple times. The Delta 4 launched with a top secret spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Delta 4 rocket, clandestine spy satellite ready for liftoff from California

January 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

Technicians are putting the final touches on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket set for liftoff Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a military base on California’s Central Coast, with a top secret spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Second SuperView satellite pair launched from China

January 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

A second satellite duo for Beijing Space View Technology successfully launched Tuesday atop a Long March 2D rocket, doubling the commercial company’s high-resolution imaging capacity for sale on the global market.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy completes dramatic pre-launch engine test

January 9, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s fired the engines of its Falcon Heavy rocket at launch pad 39A at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT) on Wednesday. The crucial pre-launch engine test has been repeatedly delayed since the rocket returned to the launch pad earlier this month.

Fate of mystery Zuma satellite in question

January 9, 2018 William Harwood

A classified satellite code-named Zuma, launched Sunday night atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, may have suffered a mission-ending failure during or shortly after the climb to space, according to news accounts Monday evening.

SpaceX kicks off ambitious 2018 schedule with launch for U.S. government

January 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

Running nearly two months late after technical concerns prevented liftoff last year, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired into the sky Sunday night from Cape Canaveral with a top secret payload for the U.S. government, the first of some 30 launches on the company’s docket in 2018.

Video: Falcon 9’s first stage paints a dazzling spectacle in the sky

January 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

Watch a video clip of the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage separating and firing its engines to return to Cape Canaveral shortly after liftoff Jan. 7.

Video: Replay of SpaceX’s first launch and landing of 2018

January 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of the launch and landing of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on Jan. 7 at Cape Canaveral.

Plot thickens as New Horizons moves within year of next flyby

January 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

The final days before NASA’s New Horizons probe barrels in on its next destination on Jan. 1, 2019, should prove eventful, with scientists trying to sort out whether a distant mini-world detected by the Hubble Space Telescope more than three years ago may actually be a swarm of icy objects.

Legendary astronaut John W. Young dies

January 6, 2018 William Harwood

Legendary astronaut John Young, who twice ventured into space in pioneering two-man Gemini capsules, orbited the moon and then walked on its cratered surface before commanding two space shuttle missions, including the program’s maiden flight, has passed away, ending one of the most storied careers in space history.