Air Force Research Laboratory – Page 2

Photos: Atlas 5 rocket rolls out to launch pad at Cape Canaveral

March 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s next Atlas 5 rocket moved to its launch pad Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, taking position for liftoff with the U.S. military’s sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency secure communications satellite.

Live coverage: Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral

March 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 4:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT), following a delay of more than an hour to troubleshoot a ground hydraulics controller. The Atlas 5 launched with the U.S. military’s sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency strategic communications satellite.

Space Force’s first launch scheduled for Thursday

March 25, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first launch of a U.S. Space Force mission since the establishment of the new military service is planned Thursday, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral with a billion-dollar jam-resistant communications satellite designed to ensure national leaders remain connected with the armed forces.

Final AEHF satellite mated to Atlas 5 launcher at Cape Canaveral

March 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

The sixth and final satellite in the U.S. Space Force’s network of secure, jam-resistant AEHF communications satellites has been installed on top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral for liftoff March 26.

Cygnus departs space station, deploys CubeSats

February 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo craft departed the International Space Station Friday to close out a three-month stay, then raised its orbit to release multiple experimental nanosatellites for NASA, the U.S. military and research institutions, including one that was snap-assembled by astronauts using 3D-printed parts produced on the station.

LightSail team declares success in solar sail experiment

August 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

The gentle push of sunlight is slowly changing the orbit of the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail 2 satellite after it unfurled a thin solar sail the size of a boxing ring last week, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Privately-funded spacecraft now solar sailing in Earth orbit

July 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

A nanosatellite launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month has unfurled a solar sail membrane and is using light pressure from the sun to change its orbit around Earth, pioneering techniques that could be used by future missions traveling to the sun’s stellar neighbors.

Photos: Falcon 9 flight marks Cape Canaveral’s first launch of 2019

February 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

The first launch from Cape Canaveral this year placed into orbit an Indonesian communications satellite, a privately-funded Israeli moon lander, and an experimental space surveillance microsatellite for the U.S. Air Force.

Scorched SpaceX rocket returns to port in Florida, ready to launch a fourth time

February 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

Singed and blackened from three fiery trips to the edge of space and back, a Falcon 9 rocket returned to Cape Canaveral on Sunday after a mission last that week carried the Israeli Beresheet moon lander into orbit, ready for inspections before attempting a fourth — and likely final — launch this spring.

Israeli moon lander hitches ride on SpaceX launch with Indonesian comsat

February 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli-built moon lander aiming to become the first privately-funded mission reach another planetary body rocketed away from Cape Canaveral on Thursday night aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, riding piggyback with an Indonesian communications spacecraft and an experimental U.S. Air Force space surveillance microsatellite.