The recently produced Concept of Operations (Con Ops) documentation has revealed the Space Launch System (SLS) will be ready to launch within a week of rollout, around a third of the average pad flow time required for the Space Shuttle. Meanwhile, the SLS Mobile Launcher (ML) has been transported back off Pad 39B following numerous [...]
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China has launched a new remote sensing satellite on Tuesday, with the YaoGan Weixing-13 satellite lofted into orbit from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. The launch - which took place at 18:50 UTC - also marks the return to flight of the Long March 2C launch vehicle, following the August 18 launch failure that doomed the SJ-11 ShiJian 11-04 [...]
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Based on a request from the US Air Force, a new Upper Stage engine – to ultimately replace the RL-10 used by the Atlas V and Delta IV – has made another advance, as Aerojet – one of the competitors to win the contract to debut the engine in 2017 – noted they that have [...]
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Russia has successfully launched another Kosmos (Glonass-M) class satellite into orbit, following lift-off of their Soyuz 2-1B launch vehicle from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch occurred at 08:25 UTC on Monday, with a successful spacecraft separation confirmed just over three hours later.
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NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory has begun its mission to the Red Planet Saturday, with a launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was on schedule, at the begining of the one-hour and 43 minute window, which opening at 15:02 UTC (10:02 local [...]
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International Launch Services (ILS) have launched their Proton-M rocket on Friday. Launch was on scheduled at 19:10 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the Proton’s Briz-M Upper Stage successfully deploying the AsiaSat 7 telecommunications satellite on its orbit after nine hours of flight.
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While fancy youtube videos and twitter-based cheer-leading continues to be the weapon of choice against the post-Shuttle era depression, one vehicle is quietly going about its business with tangible results, as opposed to backslapping tweets. The Atlas V launch vehicle – about to launch a mission to Mars – is on a winning streak, which includes strides towards [...]
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After nearly all hope was lost, the silence of the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft has been broken, following a major breakthrough via a European Space Agency (ESA) tracking station in Perth, Australia. With the earlier confirmation a carrier signal having been established during one pass, the pace of progress is picking up, with news that received telemetry data [...]
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Set to return NASA on course to Mars, the Mars Science Laboratory, known colloquially as the Curiosity rover, stands ready with its Atlas V rocket for a Thanksgiving holiday weekend launch from from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Following a one day slip, the Atlas V is set to launch within a 103 minute window which opens on Saturday at 10:02 [...]
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The Russian Soyuz TMA-02M spacecraft, also going by its US designation of 27S, has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and returned to Earth on Tuesday morning, carrying three members of the outgoing Expedition 29 crew. As the second of the new “digital” Soyuz TMA-M variants, a special attitude control test was performed post-undocking.
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After the successful return of Shenzhou-8 on November 17, China entered on the final phase of its 2011 launch schedule with the launch of two research satellites, the SW-4 Shiyyan Weixing and the Chuang Xin-1 (3), from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The launch took place at 00:15 UTC on Sunday from the 603 (SLS-2) [...]
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After making a successful trip to Earth orbit aboard the stalwart Delta II rocket, the NPP satellite has enjoyed tremendous early success with the startup of its numerous instruments and initial test of its data gathering capability – the initial results of which have already been released. The spacecraft officially reached its final orbit station on Thursday.
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An agreement has been signed between Raytheon Technical Services and Petrofac Training Services to allow oil workers to train at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory’s giant pool. While training scenes for fictional oil workers were seen during the movie Armageddon, Petrofac’s team won’t be preparing to save the planet, instead using the facility to fine tune [...]
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The Space Launch System (SLS) Mobile Launcher (ML) has completed its debut trip to Pad 39B, following a steady journey atop of the Crawler Transporter (CT). While a large amount of testing will be carried out at the pad, the trip down the crawlerway provides engineers with vital data, which can be feed into the [...]
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Russia’s Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft has successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) after a two day free flight following a flawless launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday. The arrival of Soyuz TMA-22 with three crewmembers has averted a possible de-crewing of the station following the failure of a Soyuz booster in August.
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The Exploration Test Flight (EFT-1) Orion has received its hatch door panel on one of the cone longerons, as welding of the test vehicle structure continues at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans. Meanwhile, another Orion – this time kitted out with a Launch Abort System (LAS) is moving from acoustic to modal [...]
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In what was a critical launch for the Russian space program, the Soyuz FG launch vehicle has successfully lofted the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft into orbit ahead of a two day trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Launch took place at 04:15am on Monday morning from the very snowy Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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Despite several valiant attempts, Russian experts are still unable to command the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft back to nominal operations – which is required for it to carry out two critical burns to head to its Phobos destination. The spacecraft is expected to wander around in Low Earth Orbit for some time, although controllers only have two [...]
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In a full 500 second test firing, the J-2X engine – a key part of the evolved Space Launch System (SLS) – has been put through its paces at NASA’s Stennis Space Center (SSC). Up to three of the powerful engines will power the Upper Stage of the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV), in configurations [...]
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China’s YaoGan Weixing-12 (YG-12) satellite – highly likely to be used for military purposes – has been launched into orbit by a CZ-4B Chang Zheng-4B (Long March 4B) rocket on Wednesday. The launch took place from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center at 11:21am local time.
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