Thales Alenia Space – Page 22

ESA celebrates ExoMars orbiter success, keeps vigil for lost lander

October 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European-built orbiter designed to seek out the source of methane on Mars slipped into orbit around the red planet Wednesday after a seven-month interplanetary journey, but mission control lost contact with an experimental landing probe just before touchdown.

Live coverage: ExoMars orbiter steers into orbit around Mars, lander’s fate TBD

October 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli lander arrived at Mars Wednesday, with the orbiter safely captured by Martian gravity after a critical engine firing. The lander’s fate is unknown after mission control lost contact just before touchdown.

Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship captured by space station robot arm

October 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

After waiting for a Soyuz crew ferry craft to launch and dock, a commercial Cygnus supply ship arrived at the International Space Station with a fresh delivery of more than 5,100 pounds of provisions and experiments Sunday. The rendezvous culminated in the spaceship’s grapple by the space station’s robotic arm at 7:28 a.m. EDT (1128 GMT).

European Mars lander released from ExoMars mothership

October 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

A saucer-shaped entry, descent and landing demonstrator separated from Europe’s ExoMars orbiter Sunday, beginning a three-day approach aiming to become the first European-built craft to set down on the red planet and return data.

Antares rocket raised on launch pad for station supply run

October 14, 2016 Stephen Clark

Engineers erected a commercial Antares rocket vertical on its launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore Friday, positioning the 13-story booster for liftoff Sunday night with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station.

First two Iridium Next satellites shipped to Vandenberg

August 3, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first two next-generation Iridium satellites, designed to connect global subscribers with data and voice traffic, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Tuesday, where they will join eight more message relay craft for launch in September on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

ExoMars orbiter fine-tunes path toward red planet

July 28, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European spacecraft cruising toward Mars fired its main engine Thursday, tweaking its trajectory and helping set up for carefully-choreographed simultaneous maneuvers Oct. 19 to place part of the tandem mission into orbit around the red planet and deposit a stationary battery-powered lander on the Martian surface.

Iridium satellites rolling off assembly line in Arizona

July 13, 2016 Stephen Clark

Construction is complete on the first batch of 81 new satellites to overhaul Iridium’s mobile communications network, and the data relay stations will soon head from their factory near Phoenix to California’s hilly Central Coast for launch Sept. 11 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

Antares rocket’s return-to-flight slips to August

June 26, 2016 Stephen Clark

The first launch of Orbital ATK’s redesigned Antares rocket since an engine failure doomed a mission in 2014 will likely be delayed more than one month until August to complete analysis of data acquired during a first stage hotfire test, officials said.

Departure of Europe’s first Mars rover delayed to 2020

May 2, 2016 Stephen Clark

Europe’s ExoMars rover will not be ready for launch in 2018, officials said Monday, forcing a two-year delay for the ambitious mission to drill into the Martian surface and search for the remnants of past life.