Tag: Launch
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SpaceX wins contract to launch Egyptian communications satellite
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX and the Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat have signed a contract to launch the Nilesat 301 communications craft on a Falcon 9 rocket in early 2022, SpaceX confirmed this week. The commercial agreement was…
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Prototypes for new Chinese crew capsule and space station arrive at launch site
A prototype of China’s new crew capsule will launch as soon as April on an unpiloted test flight in Earth orbit. Credit: CCTV The next flight of China’s heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket will debut a new configuration designed to launch modules for a Chinese space station. But a demonstration launch of the Long March…
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Photos: Solar Orbiter encapsulated inside launch shroud
The Solar Orbiter spacecraft was encapsulated inside the Atlas 5 rocket’s payload fairing Jan. 20. Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky The Airbus-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been closed up inside the payload fairing of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket in preparation for liftoff from Cape Canaveral in February on a joint mission between the European…
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ULA team completes countdown practice run before Solar Orbiter launch
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket is pictured during a countdown dress rehearsal Friday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance teams loaded super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into an Atlas 5 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral during a countdown dress rehearsal for a planned launch…
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Firefly confirms fire during first stage test
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated with additional details and video from Firefly. Firefly Aerospace tweeted this picture Wednesday evening, writing that teams were loading liquid oxygen into a test version of the company’s Alpha booster in preparation for the first hotfire qualification test of the rocket’s first stage. Credit: Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace confirmed a “test anomaly” resulted…
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Boeing backs out of DARPA spaceplane program
After receiving more than $150 million in U.S. military funding to design and develop a reusable winged spaceplane named Phantom Express, Boeing said Wednesday it is ending its work on the vehicle, effectively killing a program military officials hoped would offer regular, reduced-cost launch opportunities for small satellites. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,…
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Atlas 5 for Solar Orbiter launch returns to assembly building for inspections
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket for the Solar Orbiter mission rolled out to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Tuesday, Jan. 21, for a planned wet dress rehearsal Wednesday. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance moved its next Atlas 5 rocket off its Florida launch pad Wednesday for inspections after a cooling…
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NRO, the U.S. spy satellite agency, preps for first dedicated launch on foreign soil
The payload shroud for Rocket Lab’s next mission — designed NROL-151 by the National Reconnaissance Office — is pictured inside a processing facility in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s first mission for the National Reconnaissance Office, which owns the U.S. government’s fleet of intelligence-gathering satellites, is scheduled to launch from New Zealand as…
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Live coverage: Next SpaceX launch expected no earlier than Monday
Live coverage of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission will launch SpaceX’s fourth batch of Starlink broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical Monday on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral…
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Photos: Crew Dragon returns to port after in-flight abort test
The Crew Dragon spacecraft arrives at Port Canaveral on Jan. 19, 2020, after SpaceX’s in-flight abort test. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now Loaded onto a SpaceX recovery ship, the Crew Dragon capsule that performed a successful in-flight abort test Sunday over Florida’s Space Coast pulled into Port Canaveral hours later after being retrieved from…