News Archive
Browse every article published on Spaceflight Now, from launch reports and mission previews to spacecraft development coverage. Use the filters to narrow by topic or search by keyword.
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335 articles
VideoSoyuz booster pointed skyward for Galileo launch
One day after a Soyuz crew transport rolled out to a launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a similar Russian booster made a comparable journey Monday halfway around the world in tropical French Guiana for liftoff Thursday with two European Galileo navigation satellites.
Thales, Arianespace win repeat business with O3b
Armed with $460 million in fresh financing to grow its broadband communications capacity, O3b Networks has selected Thales Alenia Space to build eight new satellites and Arianespace to launch at least four of them aboard a Soyuz rocket in 2018.
VideoTake a last look at the Vega rocket’s middle-of-the-night liftoff
Videos and photos help tell the story of Thursday's launch of Europe's LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, carrying high-tech thrusters and ultra-sensitive motion sensors to be used in a future gravitational wave detection mission, from French Guiana aboard a nearly 100-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega rocket.
European probe blasts off on gravitational wave demonstration
A solid-fueled Vega launcher fired through a low cloud deck and sped into orbit from the South American jungle early Thursday with a pioneering European spacecraft that marks a key step in a century-long quest to detect elusive gravitational waves predicted to permeate the cosmos.
Live coverage: Vega rocket launches with LISA Pathfinder
A Vega rocket has blasted off with Europe's LISA Pathfinder tech demo mission, a probe heading to a station a million miles from Earth to test systems for a future gravitational wave observatory. Liftoff from French Guiana occurred at 0404 GMT Thursday (11:04 p.m. EST Wednesday).
Vega/LISA Pathfinder launch timeline
Follow the major events during the launch of Europe's LISA Pathfinder gravitational probe testbed, from liftoff of its Vega rocket booster from French Guiana through deployment into its initial orbit.
LISA Pathfinder launch grounded to analyze Vega upper stage
Launch managers in French Guiana have delayed liftoff of a European gravitational probe pathfinder at least one day to study out-of-bounds thermal readings from the upper stage of its Vega rocket booster, officials said Tuesday.
Finely-crafted experimental space probe ready for launch
A modest European-built spacecraft tuned to test the delicate, cutting edge technologies required to detect gravitational waves, a measurement that scientists say could yield unforeseen discoveries about the universe, is awaiting liftoff aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket this week.
Photos: Experimental LISA Pathfinder probe processed for launch
The European Space Agency's LISA Pathfinder spacecraft, destined to test the concept of gravitational wave detection a million miles from Earth, is nearly ready for launch Dec. 2.
Vega booster crowned with gravitational probe pathfinder
After criss-crossing Europe for a decade, the LISA Pathfinder satellite testbed has reached its last stop before launch in early December on a mission to demonstrate the delicate technologies required to detect elusive low-frequency gravitational waves rippling through the cosmos.