VS11 – Spaceflight Now

Look back at Friday’s Soyuz launch from the Amazon

March 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation network lifted off at sunset Friday aboard a Soyuz rocket from a tropical launch pad at the edge of South America’s Amazon rainforest. Look back at the picturesque liftoff with a video replay and launch photos.

Two new satellites join Europe’s fledgling navigation network

March 28, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket soared into orbit after firing off a launch pad in the Amazon jungle Friday, deploying two satellites nearly 15,000 miles above Earth to expand Europe’s Galileo system helping locate automobiles, airliners, and millions of other users around the world.

Managers confident ahead of critical launch for Galileo navigation system

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

Confident in technical and procedural fixes implemented since a launch in August left two Galileo satellites in the wrong orbit, officials with Europe’s navigation program say Friday’s liftoff of two identical craft on a Soyuz rocket will try to fill the same slots in the fleet as targeted by last year’s failed mission.

Live coverage: Soyuz lifts off from French Guiana

March 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket lifted off Friday from a jungle spaceport in South America with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation network. The four-hour launch sequence began with blastoff at 2146 GMT (5:46 p.m. EDT).

Soyuz/Galileo launch timeline

March 26, 2015 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system.

Photos: Galileo navigation satellites added to Soyuz rocket

March 25, 2015 Stephen Clark

Twin satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system were raised on top of a Russian-made Soyuz rocket late Tuesday and installed for Friday’s launch from French Guiana to expand the growing network of spacecraft nearly 15,000 miles above Earth.

Photos: Soyuz rocket transferred to jungle launch pad

March 24, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russian technicians rolled a Soyuz rocket from its integration hangar to the launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday morning, positioning the booster to receive two Galileo navigation satellites ahead of liftoff Friday.

Soyuz launch double-header set for Friday

March 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

Russian launch crews on two continents are putting the final touches on a pair of Soyuz rockets scheduled to blast off less than two hours apart Friday — one carrying a three-man crew to the space station, and another boosting two European navigation satellites into orbit from the Amazon jungle.

Galileo satellite deployment campaign to resume

February 6, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two Galileo navigation satellites arrived at the Guiana Space Center in South America on Thursday after a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris, as European officials plan the resumption of Galileo launches after a rocket mishap deposited two spacecraft in the wrong orbit last year.