Microscope – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Russia’s iconic Soyuz booster fires away from jungle launch pad

April 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

Five satellites rode a Soyuz booster into orbit Monday from French Guiana, and these spectacular photos from Europe’s tropical spaceport show the legendary rocket’s fiery departure from the edge of the lush Amazon jungle.

Soyuz blasts off with environmental satellite, general relativity probe

April 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz rocket fired off a launch pad in French Guiana Monday evening with satellite missions to monitor Earth’s environment, test Einstein’s theory of general relativity, and inspire the next generation of space engineers.

Snapshots: Soyuz takes off

April 25, 2016 Justin Ray

A Russian-made Soyuz rocket was launched from Europe’s space base in French Guiana on Monday at 2102 GMT (6:02 p.m. local; 5:02 p.m. EDT) with the Sentinel 1B environmental satellite.

Balky navigation unit prompts rare Soyuz launch scrub

April 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

Russian rocket technicians planned to swap out a failed inertial measurement unit inside a Soyuz rocket overnight Sunday after a failure in the navigation system forced officials to abort the booster’s planned launch of five satellites from French Guiana.

Live coverage: Soyuz soars into space on its fourth launch attempt

April 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

After replacing a faulty inertial measurement system blamed for a scrubbed launch attempt Sunday, a Soyuz rocket headed to space from French Guiana today with five satellites, including the next spacecraft for Europe’s multibillion-dollar Earth observing network and a French experiment to probe the validity of Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Five European satellites ready for Soyuz flight to custom orbits

April 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

The term “direct flight” will go to new heights Friday with a four-hour flight by a Soyuz rocket and its Fregat upper stage to deliver five satellites to three distinct orbital destinations hundreds of miles above Earth.