Tag: Launch
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China launches new Gaofen Earth-imaging satellite
A Long March 4C rocket lifted off from the Taiyuan space center at 1851 GMT (2:51 p.m. EDT) Friday. Credit: CCTV A Chinese Long March 4C rocket delivered into orbit Friday the Gaofen 10 Earth-imaging satellite, a likely replacement for a spacecraft lost in an August 2016 launch failure. The Long March 4C booster lifted…
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Relativity scores $140 million funding round for smallsat launcher
Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, co-founders of Relativity Space. Credit: Relativity Space Relativity Space says it has secured $140 million in new funding from venture capital firms and private investors, enough to carry the company’s 3D-printed small satellite launcher through its first orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in early 2021. The Series C fundraising round,…
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Intuitive Machines selects SpaceX to launch commercial lunar lander
Artist’s illustration of an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to…
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Air-launched rocket arrives at Cape Canaveral for satellite delivery mission
File photo of Northrop Grumman’s L-1011 carrier jet and Pegasus XL rocket arriving at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Free Station before a previous ICON launch attempt. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is back at Cape Canaveral after a cross-country ferry flight Tuesday under an L-1011 carrier jet, ready…
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SLS pathfinder stage arrives at Florida launch site
The SLS core stage pathfinder was offloaded from NASA’s Pegasus barge Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: William Harwood/CBS News A steel tube built as a stand-in for the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center for a series of rehearsals to hone the skills…
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Photos: SpaceX’s first full-size Starship prototype
SpaceX’s first full-size stainless steel Starship test vehicle stands some 164 feet (50 meters) tall and measures wider than the cabin of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. If Elon Musk has his way, it will fly to an altitude of 65,000 feet (20 kilometers) before the end of the year. These photos taken Saturday show…
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Elon Musk wants to move fast with SpaceX’s Starship
SpaceX’s Starship Mk. 1 prototype stands 164 feet (50 meters) tall at Boca Chica, Texas. Credit: SpaceX Standing in front of a shiny full-scale prototype of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle in South Texas, Elon Musk said Saturday night he wants the company’s gigantic next-generation rocket to fly into orbit within six months, a bold schedule that…
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Elon Musk to provide update on SpaceX’s Starship this weekend
EDITOR’S NOTE: Check back Sunday for a full report on Elon Musk’s Starship update. In the last few months, teams of SpaceX engineers working on the flat coastal plains of South Texas and in a nondescript industrial yard on Florida’s Space Coast have been building two futuristic-looking stainless steel rockets — or Starships — prototypes…
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Russia launches missile warning satellite
A Russian military satellite designed to detect missile launches arrived in orbit Thursday following a successful liftoff aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The Russian Defense Ministry said a Soyuz-2.1b rocket, topped with a Fregat upper stage, launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 0746 GMT (3:46 a.m. EDT) Thursday carrying…
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China launches environmental monitoring satellite
A Long March 2D rocket lifted off at 0054 GMT Wednesday (8:54 p.m. EDT Tuesday) from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China. Credit: Xinhua China launched a Long March 2D rocket Wednesday carrying a Yunhai environmental monitoring satellite into an orbit some 470 miles (760 kilometers) above Earth. The Long March 2D booster took…