September 23, 2023
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  • [ September 22, 2023 ] NASA is bringing an asteroid sample back to Earth – here’s when, how and why News
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Ariane 5

Ariane 5 launches two satellites on 7-year voyage to Mercury

October 20, 2018 William Harwood

A powerful European Ariane 5 rocket blasted off from French Guiana late Friday and boosted a pair of satellites into space for a seven-year plunge into the inner solar system, a voyage requiring seven planetary flybys to slow down enough in the sun’s gravitational clutches to slip into orbit around hellish Mercury.

Ariane 5

Photos: BepiColombo stacked for launch to Mercury

October 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

Ground crews at the Guiana Space Center in South America have spent the last few months preparing the BepiColombo spacecraft, a tandem mission with European and Japanese science orbiters bound for Mercury, for launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket.

Ariane 5

Live coverage: Probe heading to Mercury blasts off from French Guiana

October 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

The nearly $1.9 billion BepiColombo mission to Mercury jointly developed by the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency lifted off Friday night from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. Launch occurred at 9:45 p.m. EDT Friday (0145 GMT Saturday).

Ariane 5

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.

News Headlines

  • Live Coverage: Another Falcon 9 gets ready to hit 17-flight milestone
    September 23, 2023
  • NASA is bringing an asteroid sample back to Earth – here’s when, how and why
    September 22, 2023
  • Artemis 2 astronauts go to the launch pad for launch day practice
    September 22, 2023
  • NASA astronaut looks forward to family hugs, peace and quiet, after yearlong flight
    September 22, 2023
  • SpaceX launches Falcon 9 on record-breaking 17th flight for booster
    September 20, 2023
  • Home
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  • Members
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  • Live
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