Thales Alenia Space

Turkey’s military gets a new eye in the sky with successful Vega launch

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built, Turkish-owned spy satellite rocketed into orbit Monday aboard a Vega booster launched from French Guiana, part of a $300 million project to feed improved surveillance imagery to the Turkish military and advance the country’s aerospace manufacturing base.

Live coverage: Turkish reconnaissance launches on Vega rocket

December 5, 2016 Stephen Clark

A Vega rocket lifted off from a tropical launch pad in French Guiana at 1351 GMT (8:51 a.m. EST) Monday with Gokturk 1, a sharp-eyed reconnaissance satellite built in France and owned by the Turkish armed forces.

Launch timeline for Vega’s liftoff with Gokturk 1

December 4, 2016 Stephen Clark

Turkey’s most advanced Earth observation satellite will ride a four-stage Vega rocket into polar orbit nearly 435 miles above Earth to begin collecting high-resolution images for Turkish military and security authorities.

SpaceX sets Dec. 16 for first flight since launch pad explosion

December 2, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first 10 satellites in Iridium’s next-generation mobile voice and data network could head into orbit from California as soon as Dec. 16 on SpaceX’s first Falcon 9 flight since a booster exploded on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral in September, grounding the commercial launcher more than three months.

Turkish military satellite joined with Vega launcher

November 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built reconnaissance satellite for the Turkish armed forces has been fastened to the top of its Vega launcher for liftoff from French Guiana next week.

ESA says doomed Mars lander succumbed to bad altitude reading

November 25, 2016 Stephen Clark

One second of faulty data led to the destruction of a European spacecraft on final descent to Mars last month, officials said Wednesday.

New images resolve finer details of Mars lander’s crash site

October 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

Imagery captured by a sharp-eyed camera aboard a NASA orbiter shows where Europe’s Schiaparelli lander cratered on Mars last week, exploding into fine bits of shrapnel and debris after after an apparent software problem doomed the mission, officials said Thursday.