Tag: Launch
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ULA and SpaceX win shares of future national security launches; Blue Origin loses out
The U.S. Space Force has given its stamp of approval to United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, shown in the artist’s conception at left; and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, shown at right. (ULA Illustration for Vulcan / GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota for Falcon Heavy) The U.S. Space Force designated United Launch Alliance and SpaceX as…
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ULA, SpaceX win landmark multibillion-dollar launch agreements with Pentagon
Artist’s concept of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Credit: ULA United Launch Alliance and SpaceX beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for billions of dollars in U.S. military rocket contracts, and will share the load in launching the Pentagon’s highest-priority national security space missions through 2027, officials announced Friday. ULA, the 50-50…
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Video: Rocketcams show Mars-bound rover’s ride into space
Video credit: United Launch Alliance Cameras mounted on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket show the fiery ride into space for NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover after taking off from Florida’s Space Coast. The Atlas 5 rocket lifted off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT)…
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Earth observation and research satellites ride Chinese rocket into orbit
China launches a Long March 2D rocket Thursday from the Jiuquan space base. Credit: Xinhua China sent an Earth observation satellite and a university-built research payload into orbit Thursday aboard a Long March 2D rocket. The Long March 2D booster launched from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China at 12:01 a.m. EDT (0401 GMT;…
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SpaceX clears big hurdle on next-gen Starship rocket program
Credit: Video frame from live stream by @SpacePadreIsle. A prototype rocket for a massive reusable vehicle SpaceX is designing to fly people to the moon and Mars took off from a launching stand in South Texas on Tuesday, flew to a height of roughly 500 feet, then made a controlled descent to a nearby landing…
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Photos: Atlas 5 rocket catapults into space with Mars rover
Carrying a $2.7 billion NASA mission to Mars, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off July 30 from Cape Canaveral and fired into a summer sky powered by four powerful solid rocket boosters and a kerosene-burning main engine. The Atlas 5 blasted off from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at…
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Mars 2020 spacecraft resumes normal operations after post-launch safe mode
This illustration from NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” app shows the Mars 2020 spacecraft outbound from planet Earth. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance mission resumed normal operations Friday after cold temperatures forced the spacecraft into safe mode soon after a successful launch from Cape Canaveral. “With safe mode exit, the team is getting…
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NASA’s Perseverance rover leaves Earth bound for Mars
NASA’s Perseverance rover lifts off Thursday from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. Credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Persevering through a global pandemic, a last-minute earthquake, and the trials of a rocket launch, NASA’s next Mars rover — named Perseverance — took off from Cape Canaveral Thursday on a nearly…
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Proton rocket lifts off with two Russian Express comsats
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated July 31 after deployment of the Express 80 and Express 103 satellites. Flying for the first time this year, a Proton rocket streaked into space Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with two Russian Express communications satellites that will beam television, radio and broadband signals across the country. The 191-foot-tall (58.2-meter) Proton…
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Atlas 5 launch timeline on the Mars 2020 mission
This is the launch timeline to be followed by the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into space from Cape Canaveral with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. Launch is scheduled for Thursday during a two-hour window opening at 7:50 a.m. EDT (1150 GMT). The 197-foot-tall rocket will arc to the southeast from Florida’s Space Coast on its fourth…