Tag: Launch
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NASA picks Rocket Lab to launch lunar CubeSat mission
File photo of a Rocket Lab Electron booster lifting off from New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab / Sam Toms and Simon Moffatt NASA announced Friday that Rocket Lab will launch a 55-pound (25-kilogram) CubeSat from Wallops Island, Virginia, toward the moon in early 2021 on a demonstration mission to test lunar navigation techniques and scout…
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Antares rocket lifts off from Virginia on space station cargo mission
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket lifted off at 3:21:04 p.m. EST (2021:04 GMT) Saturday powered by more than 860,000 pounds of thrust from two RD-181 kerosene-fueled engines. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani A twin-engine Northrop Grumman Antares rocket climbed into orbit Saturday from Virginia’s Eastern Shore carrying a Cygnus supply ship bound for the International Space Station…
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SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket; Starlink launch delayed to Monday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Feb. 15 with launch delay until Monday. SpaceX test-fired its next Falcon 9 rocket Friday ahead of a planned launch Monday from Cape Canaveral with 60 more Starlink Internet satellites, days after an international group sounded another warning about the effects of large satellite fleets on astronomy. The hold-down firing Friday at Cape…
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Live coverage: Cygnus supply ship arrives at space station
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Antares rocket from Virginia with Northrop Grumman’s 13th operational Cygnus resupply flight to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV”] [tabby title=”Wallops Clean Feed”] [tabbyending]
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Photos: Atlas 5 lifts off with Solar Orbiter
Take a look back at the Feb. 9 launch of a 189-foot-tall (57.6-meter) Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral carrying the European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Flying in a rarely-used configuration with a single strap-on solid rocket booster, the Atlas 5 took off at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday (0403 GMT Monday) from pad 41 at Cape…
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Japanese companies agree to buy Spaceflight rideshare launch broker
Artist’s concept of a “Sherpa” multi-satellite adapter structure in orbit. Credit: Spaceflight Spaceflight Industries said this week it is selling its rideshare launch business — known as Spaceflight — to a joint venture owned by two Japanese companies. The launch broker arranges rides to space for CubeSats and other small satellite, aggregating multiple payloads for…
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Whip it good! Amazon patents a launch system for snapping payloads into the air — or even into orbit
A diagram shows Amazon’s whip-based launch system in operation on a ship. (Amazon Illustration via USPTO) Never let it be said that Amazon Prime Air VP Gur Kimchi thinks small: His latest patent lays out a plan for a launch system that could theoretically send payloads into space on the end of a miles-long whip,…
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Former NASA spaceflight chief now consulting with SpaceX
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA’s human exploration and operations directorate, speaks with reporters last year at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Chris Swanson Bill Gerstenmaier, former director of spaceflight at NASA Headquarters and a widely respected aerospace engineer and manager, has taken a consulting position at…
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Antares launch scrubbed due to faulty ground support equipment
Northrop Grumman’s 139-foot-tall (42.5-meter) Antares rocket on launch pad 0A at Wallops Island, Virginia, after officials aborted a countdown in the final minutes Sunday. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now The launch of a Northrop Grumman Antares rocket with an automated commercial space station cargo vessel from Virginia was aborted less than three minutes before takeoff Sunday…
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Atlas 5 blasts off with Solar Orbiter
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An Atlas 5 rocket lifted off at 11:03 p.m. EST Sunday (0403 GMT Monday) with the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. Credit: United Launch Alliance Under a brilliant moon, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flashed to life and vaulted away from Cape Canaveral late Sunday, boosting the European…