Launch – Page 123 – Spaceflight Now

India debuts new version of workhorse PSLV

January 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

A new variant of India’s workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle with two strap-on solid rocket boosters and an upper stage converted into an experiment-carrying platform debuted Thursday with a launch into polar orbit.

New Shepard launches NASA experiments to space, aims for human flights this year

January 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin, the commercial space company founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, launched a package of NASA experiments to the edge of space Wednesday from West Texas with a suborbital New Shepard booster, then successfully recovered the reusable rocket and space capsule a few minutes later.

China’s Long March 11 rocket lofts Earth-imaging and tech demo satellites

January 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

China’s second space launch of the year released four satellites into orbits more than 300 miles in altitude, adding two spacecraft to the Chinese-owned Jilin 1 commercial Earth-imaging constellation and deploying two smallsats on tech demo missions.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon briefly fires engines in test

January 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule on a test flight in February briefly ignited its Merlin main engines on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. The Crew Dragon test flight to the International Space Station is a precursor to the spaceship’s first mission with astronauts later this year.

Delta 4-Heavy rocket launches U.S. spy satellite into unusual orbit

January 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

A top secret surveillance payload owned by the National Reconnaissance Office soared into space Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on top of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket, entering an unusual orbit not previously used by the U.S. government’s spy satellite fleet.

Blue Origin plans New Shepard launch Wednesday

January 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

Blue Origin plans to launch its single stage New Shepard suborbital booster Wednesday as the commercial space company moves closer to flying people to the edge of space.

Live coverage: Delta 4-Heavy launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base

January 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off at 11:10 a.m. PST (2:10 p.m. EST; 1910 GMT) Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, after a month-long delay to troubleshoot a hydrogen leak in one of its boosters. The heavy-lifter was on a mission to send a U.S. government spy satellite into orbit.

First of up to seven ULA launches this year set for Saturday

January 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

The first of up to seven missions planned on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas and Delta rocket fleets this year is scheduled for Saturday from California’s Central Coast, when a Delta 4-Heavy is set for blastoff on a spy satellite delivery flight delayed a month to troubleshoot a hydrogen fuel leak in a booster.

Relativity Space obtains Air Force approval for Cape Canaveral launch pad

January 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

Launch startup Relativity Space has won approval from the U.S. Air Force to take over a disused launch pad at Cape Canaveral for the company’s methane-fueled Terran 1 rocket, a 3D-printed launcher that could carry small satellites into orbit by the end of 2020.

Japan’s Epsilon rocket launches seven tech demo satellites

January 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

Seven small satellites launched aboard a Japanese Epsilon rocket Friday, including a diverse suite of tech demo payloads and a spacecraft designed to create an artificial meteor shower next year that developers say should be visible with the naked eye.