Tag: Launch
-
China launches Earth-observing satellites, solar sail experiment
A Long March 4B rocket lifted off Thursday from the Taiyuan space center in China. Credit: CCTV Two Earth-imaging satellites and an experimental solar sail payload rocketed into orbit Thursday aboard a Chinese Long March 4B launcher, the first flight for China’s Long March 4 rocket family since an upper stage failure in May. The…
-
Long-delayed NASA science satellite gets October launch date
Technicians extend the solar array on NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, satellite during a deployment test Aug. 10 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin The launch of a NASA ionospheric research satellite off Florida’s east coast is targeted for Oct. 9 after persistent technical problems with its air-dropped Pegasus rocket stymied…
-
Russian military satellite orbited by Rockot launcher
A geodetic surveying satellite for the Russian military successfully launched Friday aboard a Rockot booster — a modified ballistic missile — from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot launcher lifted off at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT; 5 p.m. Moscow time) Friday from Plesetsk, according to a statement released by Roscosmos, the Russian space…
-
SpaceX launches Starship “hopper” on dramatic test flight
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION SpaceX launched its sub-scale Starship “hopper” spacecraft on a brief unpiloted up-and-down test flight at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test facility Tuesday, a dramatic demonstration of rocket technology intended to pave the way to a new, more powerful heavy lift booster and, eventually, crew-carrying interplanetary spacecraft. Running…
-
SpaceX aborts Starhopper test flight, could try again Tuesday
Credit: SpaceX SpaceX aborted an attempted flight Monday of the company’s Starhopper test rocket, a prototype for the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle. The hop test was to fly to a height of around 500 feet (150 meters) over SpaceX’s launch site at Boca Chica, Texas. SpaceX said teams could mount another attempt for the Starhopper…
-
Russians ready unpiloted Soyuz capsule for launch
An unpiloted Russian Soyuz spacecraft, with a humanoid robot in the commander’s seat instead of a cosmonaut, is scheduled for liftoff late Wednesday (U.S. time) from Kazakhstan on a test flight to verify the spaceship’s compatibility with the new-generation Soyuz-2.1a rocket set to begin launching crews to the International Space Station next year. Flying…
-
Live coverage: Soyuz MS-14 docks at space station
Live coverage of the test flight of the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft on a mission to the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
-
Robot-carrying capsule launches on test flight to space station
The Russian Skybot F-850 robot, seen here inside the Soyuz MS-14 spacecraft after launch, will undergo experiments at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV/Roscosmos With a robot rather than a cosmonaut in the commander’s seat, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft rocketed into orbit from Kazakhstan late Wednesday (U.S. time) en route to the International Space…
-
Astrobotic lunar lander to launch on ULA’s first Vulcan rocket
Artist’s concept of a Vulcan Centaur rocket with two solid rocket boosters. Credit: United Launch Alliance Astrobotic, a Pittsburgh-based company developing a robotic lunar lander, will launch its first moon mission under contract to NASA on the debut flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket in 2021, officials announced Monday. If successful, Astrobotic’s Peregrine…
-
Smallsat companies teaming up on deorbit experiment
Artist’s concept of a satellite manufactured by Millennium Space Systems. Credit: Millennium Space Systems TriSept Corp. has announced plans for a commercial technology demonstration mission set for launch next year on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle to test a deployable conductive tape, made by Tethers Unlimited, that could help small satellites more quickly fall out…