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Atlas V Pierces into Vandenberg Fog on first West Coast Interplanetary Mission
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket (AV-078) launched from Space Launch Complex 3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, at 11:05 UTC on May 5, 2018 with NASA’s InSight Mars Lander and two MarCO CubeSats
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Chinese Long March 3B Launches APStar-6C Communications Satellite
China was back in action on Thursday, conducting a rare commercial launch of a Long March 3B rocket with the APStar-6C communications satellite for APT Satellite Holdings
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Blue Origin’s New Shepard Reaches new Heights in latest Test Flight
Blue Origin returned to its West Texas testing grounds on Sunday for the eighth flight of its reusable New Shepard launch system – reaching new heights in a test designed to expand the vehicle’s operational envelope
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Russia gives up on Silent AngoSat-1, Promises Replacement Satellite to Angola
The Russian-built AngoSat-1 communications satellite has been officially declared lost this week after repeated attempts to revive the crippled spacecraft had been in vain.
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Chinese Long March 11 Launches Five Video & Hyperspectral Satellites for Zhuhai Constellation
A Chinese, all-solid-fueled Long March 11 rocket packed with five Earth-imaging satellites lifted off from the country’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 4:42 UTC on Thursday
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Sentinel-3B Land & Ocean-Sensing Satellite Delivered to Orbit by Russian Rockot Booster
Europe’s Copernicus Earth Observation Constellation welcomed its seventh member on Wednesday after the Sentinel-3B ocean- and land-sensing satellite received a smooth ride to orbit atop a Russian ballistic-missile-turned-space-launcher.
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Photos: Converted Ballistic Missile Launches from Russia with Sentinel-3B Observation Satellite
A Rockot/Briz-KM launch vehicle lifted off from Site 133/3 at Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome on April 25, 2018 at 17:57:52 UTC with the Sentinel-3B satellite set to join Europe’s Copernicus Constellation as its seventh member.
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Sentinel-3B Satellite to Join Copernicus Constellation via Launch on Rockot Booster
Europe’s Copernicus satellite fleet is gearing up for the arrival of its next addition on Wednesday with a Russian Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite.
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Falcon 9 Lifts TESS Exoplanet Hunter to Survey Earth’s Cosmic Neighborhood for Habitable Worlds
NASA’s search for Earth-like planets around other stars took one major step forward Wednesday night when the agency’s TESS exoplanet hunter received a smooth ride into a high-energy transfer orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon 9
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Russia’s 2nd Blagovest Military Communications Satellite Blasts off on First Proton of 2018
The thunder of Russia’s Proton rocket returned to the Baikonur Cosmodrome Wednesday night for the first time in seven months when the former workhorse of the Russian space program soared into the pre-dawn skies over the Kazakh launch site on a military mission.
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Classified Proton Launch with 2nd Blagovest Satellite Appears on Schedule for Wednesday
Out of public sight, a Proton-M rocket was rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome last weekend in preparation for liftoff as early as Wednesday with the second satellite in a dual-purpose civilian and military communications network
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TESS Launch Delayed to NET Wednesday for Additional Falcon 9 Reviews
NASA’s pursuit of Earth 2.0 will have to wait at least another two days for a critical search asset to head into orbit as the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was delayed from Monday to provide time for additional Guidance, Navigation & Control System analysis.
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Muscly Atlas V Rumbles off from Florida on Direct Geostationary Delivery with CBAS & EAGLE
The most powerful version of ULA’s Atlas V rocket – sporting five Solid Rocket Boosters for maximum thrust off the pad – soared into sunset on Saturday after blasting off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral with a pair of U.S. Air Force Satellites.
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Photos: Strongest Atlas V Rocket Races into Clear Afternoon Skies on U.S. Air Force Mission
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 23:13:00 UTC on April 14, 2018 with the Air Force Space Command 11 mission comprising the CBAS military communications satellite and EAGLE experimental platform.
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ISS Receives new External Research Facilities & Spare Pump as Part of Dragon Cargo Transfers
The International Space Station received a pair of new external science facilities and a potentially critical spare pump module over the last week and a half through an extensive effort involving the Station’s robotic duo extracting the items from the Trunk Section of the Dragon CRS-14 spacecraft and moving them to their respective installation locations on ISS.
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Five-Booster Atlas V Rolls out for Direct-to-GEO Launch with CBAS & EAGLE
The most powerful version of ULA’s Atlas V rocket rolled to its Florida launch pad on Friday to set the stage for liftoff in the early evening on Saturday on a direct climb into Geostationary Orbit to dispatch a pair of payloads for the United States Air Force.
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