Tag: Coronavirus
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Coronavirus work stoppage likely to delay launch of NASA X-ray astronomy mission
Artist’s concept of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Credit: NASA A nearly three-month stoppage of on-site work due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus at NASA’s Marshall Space Fight Center in Alabama is expected to push back the launch of the IXPE X-ray astronomy satellite from May 2021 until some time later next…
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After weather delays, Arianespace delays Vega launch to recharge batteries
A Vega launcher stands on its launch pad in French Guiana on June 28 during scrubbed launch attempt. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron After an unusual stretch of excessive high-altitude winds prevented launch from French Guiana of 53 small satellites on a Vega rocket in June — and no…
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Cluster of international satellites ready for ride into orbit on Vega rocket
EDITOR’S NOTE: The launch has been postponed again due to high-altitude winds. Technicians at the Guiana Space Center lift a stack of 53 small spacecraft for attachment to the Vga rocket’s payload adapter. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon Debuting a two-tier structure designed to accommodate dozens of small satellites on…
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Live coverage: Vega launch of 53 smallsats again delayed by high-altitude winds
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with a cluster of 53 small satellites from 21 customers in 13 countries. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Arianespace’s live video webcast begins at approximately 0135 GMT (9:35 p.m. EDT), and will be available on this page.
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Relativity books up to six launches for Iridium, reveals plans for Vandenberg pad
Artist’s illustration of Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: Relativity Space Relativity Space, a small launch startup aiming to fly its orbital rocket from Cape Canaveral for the first time next year, announced Wednesday it has signed a contract with Iridium for up to six launches of the company’s…
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U.S. military to award smallsat launch contracts using COVID-19 relief funds
Astra’s first orbital-class small satellite launcher, designated “1 of 3,” is raised vertical in this photo taken at a spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in February. Credit: DARPA The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense…
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Vega rocket’s return-to-flight launch waits for improved wind conditions
The Vega rocket’s payload fairing — containing 53 satellites — is transferred to the Vega launch pad in French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon The first launch of an Italian-made Vega rocket since an in-flight failure nearly one year ago has been postponed to no earlier than Monday…
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NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021
Technicians inspect a critical part of the James Webb Space Telescope known as the Deployable Tower Assembly after fully extending it in the same maneuver it will perform in once in space. Credit: Northrop Grumman The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date…
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Fitted with super-clean sample tubes, NASA’s next Mars rover nears launch date
Technicians installed sample collection tubes into NASA’s Perseverance rover May 21 before launch to Mars in July. Credit: NASA/JPL The Perseverance rover’s sterilized sample tubes — designed to seal Martian rock and sediment for eventual return to Earth — are installed on the spacecraft as teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center prepare to enclose the…
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Assembly of Mars rover’s rocket to begin this week
EDITOR’S NOTE: United Launch Alliance ground crews raised the Atlas 5 rocket’s first stage inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Thursday, May 28, to begin stacking of the launch vehicle for the Perseverance rover mission. Wrapped up for shipment, the first stage of the Atlas 5 rocket that will launch…