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VideoVideo: Europe’s IXV prepared for launch
Watch a time lapse video chronicling several days of activity to ready the European Space Agency's sleek IXV re-entry demonstrator for flight.
Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth
A European re-entry demonstrator launched aboard a solid-fueled Vega rocket at 1340 GMT (8:40 a.m. EST) from French Guiana, kicking off a whirlwind 102-minute around-the-world test flight to validate technologies that could be used on future reusable launchers and spaceships.
ESA re-entry vehicle could pave way for reusable launcher
European engineers are eager to test an experimental re-entry demonstrator Wednesday to validate technologies for future robotic exploration probes, winged space planes, and reusable rocket boosters.
Galileo satellite deployment campaign to resume
Two Galileo navigation satellites arrived at the Guiana Space Center in South America on Thursday after a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris, as European officials plan the resumption of Galileo launches after a rocket mishap deposited two spacecraft in the wrong orbit last year.
Photos: ESA re-entry testbed prepared for liftoff
Engineers have put the finishing touches on a prototype spaceship representing a leap in European space technology, aiming for liftoff Feb. 11 for a flight 260 miles into space and back to Earth for a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Europe’s re-entry demonstrator mated to Vega rocket
Launch crews in French Guiana have mounted an innovative European space plane on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher for a Feb. 11 suborbital test flight.
Launch campaign resumes for ESA space plane
Engineers are resuming preparations to launch an experimental European re-entry test vehicle on a Vega rocket Feb. 11 after a two-month delay ordered by safety authorities to analyze risks posed to the public by the booster's unique trajectory after liftoff from French Guiana.
2014’s launch tally highest in two decades
There were more successful space launches in 2014 than in any year since 1992, with Russia, the United States and China responsible for more than 80 percent of global launch activity.
VideoPhotos: Soyuz soars skyward from French Guiana
Flying for the 10th time from a tropical launch facility along the South American coastline, a Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Dec. 18 and streaked through partly sunny skies with four satellites to extend the reach of the O3b Networks, a company founded to bring broadband to the world's most remote and impoverished countries.
Third quartet of satellites launched for O3b Networks
A Soyuz rocket lifted off from French Guiana on Thursday, launching four satellites owned by O3b Networks nearly 5,000 miles above Earth to expand access to high-speed Internet in the developing world.