Launch – Page 161 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Indian GSLV launches with communications satellite

March 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

An Indian Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle debuting an upgraded higher-thrust second stage engine lifted off at 1126 GMT (7:26 a.m. EDT) Thursday with an S-band communications satellite.

DigitalGlobe books two launches with SpaceX for Earth-imaging fleet

March 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two Falcon 9 rockets with reused first stage boosters will place the initial block of DigitalGlobe’s commercial WorldView Legion satellite fleet in orbit in 2021, the Earth-imaging company recently announced.

Ground equipment problem slips next Falcon 9 launch to Friday

March 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Trouble with a piece of ground equipment used for testing of the 10 Iridium communications satellites aboard the next Falcon 9 rocket launch has forced a 24-hour delay in the mission to Friday, officials said Tuesday.

Soyuz spacecraft with crew of three docks with space station

March 23, 2018 William Harwood

A Russian Soyuz ferry ship carrying a Russian commander and two NASA astronauts caught up with the International Space Station Friday and executed a flawless docking to close out a two-day rendezvous that began with launch Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Atlas 5 rocket assembled for first Mars mission launch from Vandenberg

March 23, 2018 Stephen Clark

Ground crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California raised a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on its launch pad earlier this month in preparation for liftoff May 5 with NASA’s InSight lander heading to Mars.

Soyuz takes off with three bound for space station

March 21, 2018 William Harwood

A Russian Soyuz rocket blasted off and shot into orbit Wednesday, carrying a Russian cosmonaut and two NASA astronauts, all veteran space fliers, on a two-day flight to the International Space Station.

Video: Soyuz lifts off with three-man crew

March 21, 2018 Stephen Clark

Three veteran space fliers rode a Soyuz rocket into orbit Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading to the International Space Station for a five-month stay.

Launch preps advance in California for next Falcon 9 flight

March 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s fifth launch of replacement spacecraft for Iridium’s global voice and data communications network is set for March 29 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a flight that Iridium hopes will signal the start of a brisk pace of West Coast missions to complete deployment of the telecom company’s initial 75-satellite constellation this summer.

ULA touts new Vulcan rocket in competition with SpaceX

March 20, 2018 William Harwood

SpaceX and its visionary founder Elon Musk win the lion’s share of public attention in the commercial rocket arena, with dramatic, increasingly routine booster landings and spectacular stunts like the launch of Musk’s Tesla Roadster on the maiden flight of the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket last month.

U.S. Air Force divides new launch contracts between SpaceX, ULA

March 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have split up to $645 million in new contracts to deploy U.S. Air Force navigation and surveillance satellites into orbit from 2019 through 2021.