Tag: Launch
-
Photos: Mars rover encapsulated for launch, mated with Atlas 5 rocket
NASA’s Perseverance rover, contained inside its aeroshell for a searing plunge into the Martian atmosphere next year, has been cocooned inside the payload shroud of its Atlas 5 launcher and mated with the rocket ahead of liftoff from Cape Canaveral scheduled for July 30. The six-wheeled robot is NASA’s next Mars rover. It’s similar in…
-
Mars rover mated with Atlas 5 launcher after teams deal with coronavirus cases
The Atlas 5 rocket’s payload shroud containing the Perseverance rover was raised atop the launch vehicle Tuesday, July 7. Credit: NASA/Christian Mangano NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has been hoisted on top of its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral for liftoff this month, passing a major pre-launch milestone after teams repaired a…
-
Chinese launches loft satellites to study space environment and observe Earth
A Long March 4B rocket takes off from the Taiyuan space center Friday. Credit: Xinhua China launched a Long March 2D rocket Saturday with a satellite Chinese officials claimed will study the space environment and conduct technology demonstrations, less than two days after a Long March 4B rocket took off from a different launch site…
-
Israel successfully places surveillance satellite into orbit
A Shavit 2 launcher takes off from Israel on Monday carrying the Ofeq 16 spy satellite. Credit: Israel Ministry of Defense For the first time in nearly four years, a rocket successfully shot into orbit from Israel on Monday with a military reconnaissance satellite to shore up the country’s space-based capability to surveil Iran and…
-
Top secret NRO payload installed on Minotaur rocket for launch from Virginia
The Minotaur 4’s payload shroud is lifted atop the rocket at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Credit: NRO Crews working on Virginia’s Eastern Shore this week raised a top secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office — the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency — atop a solid-fueled Minotaur 4 rocket for liftoff…
-
NASA delays Mars rover launch to no earlier than July 30
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket undergoes a Wet Dress Rehearsal June 22 at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad in preparation for liftoff with NASA’s Peseverance Mars rover. Credit: United Launch Alliance A technical issue with the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s $2.4 billion Perseverance rover toward Mars…
-
NASA developing plans to fly astronauts on suborbital rockets
File photo of a New Shepard launch. Credit: Blue Origin NASA says it is interested in flying astronauts and scientists on commercial suborbital vehicles, like those being tested by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, to provide additional training and research opportunities augmenting missions to the orbiting International Space Station. The space agency announced this week…
-
Launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover delayed to July 22
The two halves of the payload fairing for United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket are seen on each side of the spacecraft containing NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover in this June 18 photo. Credit: NASA/Christian Mangano The launch of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has been delayed two days to July 22 after…
-
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…
-
China launches final Beidou navigation satellite
A Long March 3B rocket launches from the Xichang space center in southwestern China at 0143 GMT Tuesday (9:43 p.m. EDT Monday). Credit: Xinhua China launched the capstone satellite for the Beidou navigation constellation Tuesday, adding the final piece to a global network to rival the U.S. military’s GPS fleet providing positioning, timing, and search…