Tag: Orbital

  • FAILURE: Orbital Taurus rocket fails NASA’s Glory spacecraft

    FAILURE: Orbital Taurus rocket fails NASA’s Glory spacecraft

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    Orbital’s Taurus launch vehicle finally lifted off with NASA’a Glory spacecraft – at 10:09am GMT Friday morning – after being rescheduled due to a scrub during  its original February launch attempt.  However, the vehicle’s aim to deploy the Glory environmental satellite for NASA, plus three university CubeSats, via a launch from Launch Complex 576E at the Vandenberg Air…

  • Orbital Minotaur IV launches with multiple satellites

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    Orbital Sciences Corporation used their Minotaur IV launch vehicle to loft eight satellites for the United States Government and university research programmes on Friday night. The mission, designated STP S-26, launched from the Kodiak Launch Complex in Alaska one minute into a 90-minute window, with a lift-off time of 20:25 pm Eastern (01:25 UTC). Minotaur…

  • ISS updates failure investigations and future configuration challenges

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    The International Space Station Increment 25 are ending their first full week on the orbital outpost, as specialists on the ground continue their investigation into the events leading up to the failure of the GPRVs (Gas Pressure Regulation Valves) in April and Pump Module (PM) in July. Engineers are also evaluating the ISS’s long-term module…

  • Minotaur IV launches first Space Based Space Surveillance satellite

    Minotaur IV launches first Space Based Space Surveillance satellite

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    An Orbital Minotaur IV has made its first orbital launch during the early hours of Sunday morning, carrying the first Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite for the US Air Force and Missile Defense Agency. The launch – from Vandenberg Air Force Base – was on schedule, at the start of a 14 minute window, whiched opened…

  • Teal predict over 2,200 payloads to be launched over next 20 years

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    The Teal Group – a defense and aerospace consulting firm that provides intelligence to government and industry – estimates 2,229 space payloads will be launched to Earth, Lunar and deep space trajectories from 2010-2029. The Virginia-based group is also predicting a bright future for SpaceX’s Dragon, and Orbital’s Cygnus capsules, as they prepare to come…

  • Zenit-3SLB launches repaired MEASAT-3a into orbit

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    Sea Launch have successfully launched their Zenit-3SLB launch vehicle, carrying the MEASAT-3a telecommunication satellite. The Land Launch branch of the multi-national company lofted the Orbital Sciences built satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Zenit-3SLB is derived from the Zenit-2SLB, and further modified from the Zenit-3SL used by Sea…

  • Orbital successfully launch TacSat-3 via Minotaur 1

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    An Orbital Minotaur 1 has finally launched from the Wallops Island Flight Facility with the Tactical Satellite-3 (TacSat-3) satellite. The launch was heavily postponed, with several scrubs relating from the weather to the launch vehicle and facility. It was via the earlier TacSat-2 mission that the Minotaur I demonstrated its ability to provide a near-term,…

  • Orbital’s Taurus XL fails during Orbiting Carbon Observatory spacecraft launch

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    Orbital Science’s Taurus XL rocket lifted-off from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, carrying the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) this morning. However, the mission was deemed as a failure during or slightly after third stage flight, after it was noted the fairing failed to separate as required. “OCO did not achieve…

  • SpaceX and Orbital win huge CRS contract from NASA

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    SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation have been awarded the lucrative Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, with SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) earning 12 missions, and Orbital winning another eight missions. The details of the award – worth up to 3.5 billion dollars – equates to Orbital winning 54 percent of the funding. PlanetSpace Inc lose out on the award.…

  • IBEX launched via Orbital’s Pegasus XL

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    NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has been launched via an Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL launch vehicle on Sunday, after it was released by its L-1011 carrier aircraft at around 1:44pm EDT. CLICK HERE FOR LIVE COVERAGE With all the interest surrounding SpaceX’s Falcon I launch vehicle of late, many forget that Pegasus was the world’s…