Tag: Launch
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Assembly complete for Minotaur launcher at Cape Canaveral
A view of pad 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where crews have stacked a Minotaur 4 rocket for launch Aug. 25. Credit: Orbital ATK Using industrial cranes at a no-frills launch pad on the eastern tip of Cape Canaveral, a team of Orbital ATK and U.S. Air Force technicians have fully stacked a…
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Falcon 9 rocket test-fired for California launch next week
The Falcon 9 rocket slated to launch Aug. 24 with the Formosat 5 satellite test-fires its nine main engines Saturday. Credit: SpaceX A commercial Falcon 9 rocket in the final stages of launch preparations fired its nine Merlin main engines Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, verifying its readiness for liftoff with a…
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Videos: Replays from successful Atlas 5 launch of TDRS-M
Isolated camera views from various locations around Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center show the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifting off with NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M. UCS 3 UCS 15 VIF roof Pad camera NASA Causeway VAB roof KSCVC observation gantry Rocketcam staging See earlier TDRS-M launch coverage.
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Atlas 5 rocket delivers NASA data router into space for astronauts and satellites
CAPE CANAVERAL — Bulking up NASA’s constellation of tracking stations in the sky that provides critical links between orbiting spacecraft and ground control, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket successfully deployed a new communications hub in space today. NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite series, a program that revolutionized mission operations for U.S. human…
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Video: TDRS-M takes flight atop Atlas 5
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, standing 191 feet tall and and weighing 745,000 pounds, generates 860,000 pounds of thrust from its main engine to launch NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M. Video courtesy: NASA TV See earlier TDRS-M launch coverage.
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Rocket Lab finishes test flight inquiry, plans second launch later this year
The first Electron rocket took off May 25 from a launch base in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab The inaugural test flight of Rocket Lab’s commercial small satellite booster in May fell short of orbit because a software programming error on a piece of ground equipment led a safety officer to send a premature termination…
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Live coverage: SpaceX rolls out rocket for static fire
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the next Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch a Dragon supply ship with several tons of cargo and experiments for the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page.…
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Poor weather forecast delays launch of Japanese navigation satellite
Updated Aug. 10 with new launch window. The H-2A rocket’s first stage was positioned on its mobile launch platform July 3 in preparation for the launch of the Michibiki 3 navigation satellite. Credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries The Japanese space agency said Wednesday the launch of an H-2A rocket with the country’s third navigation satellite was…
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Shuttle-era structure dismantled piece-by-piece at pad 39A
Credit: Spaceflight Now A heavy-duty crane towering over launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in recent weeks has removed several large sections of a disused structure once needed to install satellites and space station modules into space shuttle cargo bays. A demolition crew hired by SpaceX, the launch pad’s current tenant, has plucked…
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SES agrees to launch another satellite on previously-flown Falcon 9 booster
A Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster lands at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 19 following a launch from nearby Kennedy Space Center with a space station cargo ship. Credit: SpaceX Six months after sending one of its communications satellites to orbit on the first re-flight of a SpaceX rocket, SES intends to…