International Launch Services (ILS) have launched the DirecTV 12 telecommunications satellite via their veteran Proton-M launch vehicle and Breeze-M upper stage late on Monday, marking the final orbital launch of 2009. Lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was on time at 19:22 EST, ahead of over nine hours of flight until the spacecraft was successfully [...]

International Space Station Program (ISSP) and Space Shuttle Program (SSP) engineers have updated NASA on the safety issues pertaining to Dual-Docked Operations (DDO) between the Space Shuttle and various Russian visiting vehicles making use of the numerous Russian docking ports. Meanwhile, the three man crew of Soyuz TMA-17 have docked with the Station.

Oleg Kotov (Russia), Timothy Creamer (NASA) and Soichi Noguchi (Japan) have launched on board the Russian Soyuz TMA-17 on Sunday, taking aim on the International Space Station (ISS) where they will join NASA’s Jeff Williams, commander of the Expedition 22 crew. The crew launched at 4:51pm Eastern from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The 3,670kg module Mini Research Module-2 (MRM-2) has launched at 9:22 am Eastern on Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on top of a Russian Soyuz-U launch vehicle. The module will become the latest addition to the Station - providing an additional docking port for Russian vehicles, an airlock for Russian-based spacewalks and a platform for external [...]

ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) and Proba-2 (PRoject for OnBoard Autonomy) satellites have launched on a Russian Rockot vehicle – a converted SS-19 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) – from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch was on time at 2:50am Central European Team (CET).

International Space Station Expedition 20 Commander Gennady Padalka, Flight Engineer Michael Barratt and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte have landed safely in their Soyuz TMA-14 on the steppes of Kazakhstan Sunday morning. The trio left the ISS just a few hours prior to landing, leaving a Station that is now busily working through its Expedition 21 [...]

Soyuz Commander Max Suraev, NASA Flight Engineer Jeff Williams and spaceflight participant Guy Laliberte launched aboard the Soyuz TMA-16 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:14 am (Central). Meanwhile, NASA controllers have been looking into Soyuz “Safe Haven” procedures, in the event of late conjunction threats to the Station.

International Launch Services (ILS) have launched the AsiaSat 5 telecommunications satellite via their veteran Proton-M launch vehicle and Breeze-M upper stage. Lift-off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan occurred at 23:47 Moscow time.

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.

ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk have launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 10:34 GMT on Wednesday, with their Soyuz TMA-15 scheduled to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) at 12:36 GMT on Friday 29 May – marking the start of six crew operations [...]

Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke, Flight Engineer and Soyuz TMA-13 Commander Yury Lonchakov and space tourist Charles Simonyi have returned home safely, following their landing in Kazakhstan this morning. The safe return backs up the findings presented in an expansive NASA and Russian document that outlined the off-nominal ballistic re-entries of Soyuz TMA-10 and 11, [...]

A Russian Soyuz launch vehicle has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:49am CDT, carrying NASA astronaut Michael Barratt, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, and spaceflight participant and U.S. software engineer Charles Simonyi.

A Russian Rockot launch vehicle – a converted SS-19 Russian Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) – launched on Tuesday, following a 24 hour delay when Monday’s attempt was scrubbed at T-7 seconds, due to an issue with the Launch Service Tower. The vehicle is carrying the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) spacecraft into orbit on Monday.

The three members of Expedition 18 carried out the contingency of  “evacuation” into the Soyuz spacecraft attached to the International Space Station (ISS), following a “RED threshold late notice conjunction threat” alert, related to Object “25090 PAM-D” debris. The threat passed with no impact, allowing the crew to egress back into the Station.

STS-119’s opening launch attempt has been scrubbed until Sunday, March 15,, following a LH2 leak during tanking. The leak related to a carrier plate that is attached to the intertank area of the ET, with attempts to cycle the associated valve to reduce the leak to acceptable proving to be unsuccessful.

The Russian cargo ship Progress M-66/32P has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, ahead of docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on February 13. The resupply vehicle is carrying 2.5 tons of cargo for the Station’s Expedition 18 crew.

Russia has launched its third satellite on a program for the study of the Sun and solar-terrestrial physics. The launch of Koronas-Foton took place at 13:30 UTC from the GIK-1 Plesetsk Cosmodrome, in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km North of Moscow. This was the last launch of the venerable 11K68 Tsyklon-3 rocket.

Expedition 18 crewmembers Yury Lonchakov and Michael Fincke have performed a Russian spacewalk (ISS RS EVA-21), which has included the installation of a probe to aid the on-going investigation into the off-nominal re-entries of two Soyuz vehicles. Meanwhile, the continued assessments into work conducted during STS-126’s EVAs on the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJs) are [...]

The last ILS mission of 2008 has launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, as their Proton-M launch vehicle prepares lifted-off from Pad PU-39 of Launch Complex 200. Launch occured on time at 13:43 UTC. The launch phase of the mission will last a total of nine hours, injecting the Ciel-2 communications satellite in to a geostationary [...]