Germany – Spaceflight Now

Rocket Lab launches communications satellite for OHB

January 20, 2021

A mysterious small satellite built by the German company OHB, purported to be a pathfinder for a Chinese-owned communications constellation, took off from New Zealand Wednesday and soared into orbit on top of a Rocket Lab Electron launcher.

NASA gives up on salvaging InSight Mars lander’s ‘mole’

January 19, 2021

NASA managers tried for the last time earlier this month to coax the InSight lander’s long-stuck subsurface heat probe into the Martian soil, but after seeing no more progress, ground teams decided to end their efforts and focus on the mission’s other science objectives.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches from New Zealand on its first mission of 2021

January 16, 2021

After scrubbing a countdown Saturday to review sensor data, Rocket Lab launched its first mission of 2021 from New Zealand at 2:26 a.m. EST (0726 GMT) Wednesday. The company’s light-class Electron rocket carried a super-secret payload for OHB, a German-headquartered satellite manufacturer.

Rocket Lab set to launch super-secret satellite for German company

January 15, 2021

A small communications satellite built by the German company OHB — a payload so secret that no one has officially disclosed its name or end user — is set to ride a Rocket Lab Electron launcher into orbit Saturday from New Zealand.

Smallsat launch providers readying for first missions of 2021

January 10, 2021

Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab teams are gearing up for their first missions of the year in the coming days, with Virgin’s air-launched rocket set for its second demonstration flight and Rocket Lab’s Electron booster poised to launch a small German-owned communications satellite.

Three astronauts assigned to Crew Dragon mission in late 2021

December 29, 2020

Rookie astronaut Raja Chari — a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot — veteran physician-astronaut Tom Marshburn, and European Space Agency astronaut Matthias Maurer have been assigned to fly to the International Space Station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship in the fall of 2021.

Soyuz launches with 22 satellites

September 29, 2020

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched Monday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with 22 satellites for operators in Russia, Europe, Canada, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates.

Scientists optimistic planetary probes won’t face coronavirus launch delays

April 29, 2020

Launches of interplanetary missions can only depart Earth when the positions of the planets are just right, and officials managing the development of probes set for launch in 2021 and 2022 to explore asteroids and Jupiter says construction milestones and reviews are proceeding to keep the projects on schedule despite the coronavirus pandemic.

NASA’s InSight mission shows Mars is a seismically active world

February 26, 2020

While one of its two science instruments remains sidelined, NASA’s InSight probe has proven Mars is seismically active through the detection of hundreds of quakes, some of which can be traced to a volcanic region nearly 1,000 miles away.

Earth observation, deep space exploration big winners in new ESA budget

November 29, 2019

European Space Agency member states on Thursday committed nearly 12.5 billion euros ($13.8 billion) to fund ESA programs over the next three years, promising money to grow Europe’s fleet of satellites studying Earth’s changing climate, contribute to NASA-led lunar exploration efforts, and continue ESA’s participation in the International Space Station until 2030.