Tag: Launch
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Launch timeline for Atlas 5’s AEHF 4 mission
A United Launch Atlas 5 rocket is set to launch the U.S. Air Force’s fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite from Cape Canaveral. This timeline shows the major mission events planned over a three-and-a-half-hour flight to an optimized geostationary transfer orbit. The 197-foot-tall (60-meter) rocket, propelled by an RD-180 main engine and five solid…
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ULA, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman share Air Force rocket funding
Artist’s concept of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Credit: Blue Origin The U.S. Air Force has committed $327 million in funding to advance development of new rockets designed by United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, leaving out SpaceX in a government investment round that will lead to the military’s selection of two long-term…
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Two satellites with secretive missions launched by China
A Long March 2C rocket lifted off Tuesday with two Yaogan 32 military satellites. Credit: Xinhua Two Chinese Yaogan military reconnaissance satellites launched this week, riding a Long March 2C booster into orbit on a mission that inaugurated the use of a new restartable upper stage to increase the rocket’s carrying capacity. The two Yaogan…
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SpaceX aces first rocket landing in California after launching Argentine satellite
A Falcon 9 rocket launched Sunday night from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite. Credit: SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket launching an Argentine Earth-observing satellite streaked across the skies of Southern California on Sunday night, then its booster stage returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base for an on-target landing,…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches Argentine satellite, lands rocket in California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with SAOCOM 1A, a radar observation satellite for Argentina. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket, landing pad ready for action at Vandenberg
The Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the SAOCOM 1A satellite stands on its launch pad Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday ahead of a planned liftoff with Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite, and the…
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SpaceX completes hotfire test, preps for first California rocket landing
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Oct. 3 with 24-hour launch delay to Oct. 7. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will launch Saturday will reuse the first stage booster from a July 25 mission that carried 10 Iridium communications satellites into orbit. This photo shows the Falcon 9 rocket before the July 25 launch from California. Credit:…
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Chinese solid-fueled launcher puts smallsat in orbit
A Kuaizhou 1A rocket launched Saturday from the Jiuquan space center in northwestern China. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese Kuaizhou 1A rocket took off Saturday under the auspices of the commercial launch provider Exspace and successfully deployed a tech demo satellite into orbit, state media reported. The solid-fueled rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan space base…
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Bezos rocket engine selected for new Vulcan rocket
Artist’s concept of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Credit: ULA Ending months of speculation, Blue Origin, a company owned by Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos, has won a milestone contract to provide first-stage rocket engines for a powerful new booster being designed by United Launch Alliance to replace its current fleet of Atlas and Delta launchers, the…
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Expansion of China’s Beidou satellite fleet continues with successful launch
A Long March 3B rocket lifted off Wednesday with two more Chinese Beidou navigation satellites. Credit: Xinhua Another successful launch Wednesday carried two more Beidou satellites into orbit, continuing a string of missions to push China’s independent navigation network closer to global coverage and adding international search-and-rescue support to the program’s portfolio. The satellites climbed…