Launch – Page 146 – Spaceflight Now

Arianespace aims for busy second half of 2018

July 3, 2018 Stephen Clark

Europe’s first mission to Mercury, a quartet of Galileo navigation spacecraft, the world’s first global winds observatory, and a new European weather satellite have arrived at an equatorial launch base in French Guiana in preparation for launches in the coming months.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket dazzles at dawn

July 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

Powering into a pre-sunrise sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket provided a memorable show as it climbed into sunlight, delivering a Dragon cargo craft to orbit on a trip to the International Space Station.

SpaceX launches AI-enabled robot companion, vegetation monitor to space station

June 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

A commercial SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule packed with a robot assistant for the International Space Station’s crew, pouches of extra strong coffee, and a NASA science instrument designed to track the health of plants on Earth left Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Friday on a three-day pursuit of the orbiting research lab.

Rocket Lab’s first commercial launch grounded to fix nagging technical issue

June 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab will bypass its current launch window to resolve a recurring problem with a motor controller on the company’s light-class Electron rocket, likely postponing its first commercial satellite launch at least a few weeks.

Launch timeline for SpaceX’s 15th space station resupply mission

June 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in less than 10 minutes Friday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying more than 5,900 pounds of supplies and experiments.

Commercial SpaceX cargo capsule readied for launch Friday

June 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship, primarily using previously-flown hardware, are scheduled for liftoff before dawn Friday at Cape Canaveral on SpaceX’s 15th cargo launch to the International Space Station under contract to NASA.

Live coverage: SpaceX supply ship arrives at space station

June 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX-owned Dragon supply ship packed with nearly three tons of cargo arrived at the International Space Station on Monday after a three-day trip from Cape Canaveral. The station’s robotic arm grappled the cargo capsule at 6:54 a.m. EDT (1054 GMT).

Chinese rocket lifts off with two tech demo satellites

June 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two Chinese spacecraft designed to test inter-satellite network and Earth observation technologies launched Wednesday on top of a Long March 2C booster.

Rocket Lab’s first commercial launch scrubbed again

June 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

The liftoff of a Rocket Lab Electron booster from New Zealand with five U.S.- and German-built nanosatellites was grounded Tuesday, U.S. time, after engineers identified a problem with a motor controller on the two-stage launcher.

U.S. Air Force certifies Falcon Heavy rocket, awards launch contract

June 26, 2018 Stephen Clark

The successful maiden flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in February was enough for the U.S. Air Force to certify the huge booster to carry the military’s most precious cargo into orbit, beginning with the mid-2020 launch of a classified payload under a $130 million contract awarded last week.