Falcon 9
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Falcon 9
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Ariane 5
Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket to retire after 27 years service
Europe’s iconic Ariane 5 rocket, with its liquid hydrogen-fueled core stage and solid rocket boosters, has been symbolic of Europe’s guaranteed access to space providing a unique capacity for launching satellites and spacecraft into precise orbits over almost three decades. Its long run comes to an end when the final Ariane 5 rocket lifts off on Wednesday.
Ariane 5
The last European Ariane 5 rocket arrives at the launch pad for its final countdown
The last Ariane 5 rocket was hauled to the launch pad on Monday at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s South American spaceport. Ariane 5, which for years was the world’s leading commercial satellite launcher, is scheduled to make its final lift off on Tuesday, carrying a French military satellite and a communications technology testbed spacecraft for Germany.
Falcon 9
SpaceX launches European ‘dark energy telescope’ to help unravel cosmology’s biggest mysteries
The European Space Agency launched its $1.5 billion Euclid space telescope Saturday, an ambitious, first-of-a-kind attempt to pin down the nature of dark matter, an unknown material pervading the cosmos, and dark energy, the mysterious repulsive force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe.
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Virgin Galactic launches its first commercial flight to space
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic launched its first commercial space flight Thursday, sending three Italian researchers, two company pilots and an astronaut trainer on a high-speed thrill ride to the edge of space aboard a winged rocketplane. The crew experienced about three minutes of weightlessness. Total time between air launch and landing: just under 14 minutes.
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Virgin Galactic readies spaceplane for first commercial flight on Thursday
Four-and-a-half years after an initial sub-orbital test flight, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is finally ready to begin commercial operations with the launch Thursday of a six-man crew, including three Italian researchers, on an up-and-down flight to the edge of space aboard the company’s winged spaceplane.
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First hot-fire test of Europe’s reusable methane-fueled Prometheus rocket engine
Europe successfully completed the first hot-fire test of its reusable Prometheus rocket on June 22, a 12-second burn while integrated to the Themis first-stage demonstrator at the ArianeGroup site in Vernon, France. Prometheus and Themis are components of the new ‘Ariane Next’ European launch program, which is focused on developing a fleet of reusable rockets to enter service in the 2030s.