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.

Canada’s Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM) robot “Dextre” has reported himself as fit for duty, as the clock ticks down to his debut tasks on the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, preparations are building up for the arrival of the first Japanese HTV (H-II Transfer Vehicle) – which may involve spare robotic work station hardware being [...]

United Launch Alliance (ULA) has launched the WGS-2 satellite on an Atlas V rocket, with lift-off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral at 21:33 EDT, Friday. The launch was realigned following an issue with the Centaur LOX pump led to the termination of tanking and put pay to the March 17 launch attempt.

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket has launched this morning, carrying GPS-IIR-20, the penultimate spacecraft of the current block of GPS satellites. Lift-off from Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral was on time, at the start of a window running from 08:34 to 08:49 GMT (04:34-04:49 EDT).

The Delta II launch team at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station have launched NASA’s new Kepler observatory, a telescope designed to search for Earth-like terrestrial planets in the Cygnus and Lyra constellations. The initial three and half year mission launched at 10:49pm. EST from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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.

A United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket has launched with the NASA NOAA-N Prime spacecraft at the third attempt to launch from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California – at 2:22am PST - following two scrubs due to technical issues.

Japan has launched a satellite that will be used to observe the concentration distribution of greenhouse gases from space. The launch of the Ibuki satellite (also known by GOSAT – Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite) took place on January 23 at 03:54 UTC from the LP1 launch platform of the Yoshinubo launch complex on Tanegashima.

After three years of delays, United Launch Alliance have launched the third Delta IV Heavy, carrying the classified NRO L-26 satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office. The rocket finally launched liftoff from Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at 02:47 GMT (21:47 local time), following the resolution of a number of [...]

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II launch vehicle has launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) with COSMO-3, the third satellite of the COSMO-SkyMed (Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) constellation. Launch was on schedule at 10:28 pm EDT.

International Launch Services (ILS) have launched their Proton M launch vehicle from Pad 39 (Area 200) at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, carrying the Nimiq 4 satellite for Canada. Lift-off was recorded at 5:48 pm EDT.
NASASpaceflight.com is covering the launch as a live event, with background, live updates, images and a free launch video all [...]

International Launch Services (ILS) have returned their Proton M back into service for the multi-national company, with the launch of the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with background, live updates, and a free launch video – all available on the links below (read [...]

Sea Launch have returned to action tonight with the launch of the EchoStar 11 telecommunications satellite via their Zenit-3SL launch vehicle from their Odyssey Launch Platform. The launch was on time at 10:21pm PDT.
Meanwhile, one of the EchoStar’s older birds failed earlier this week, with an official announcement confirming the loss of EchoStar [...]

A United Launch Alliance Delta II (7320-10) launch vehicle has launched with Jason-2 – a European/American Ocean Surface Topography satellite – from SLC-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), California. Liftoff was confirmed at the opening of the window at 00:46 PDT.
NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with background, images, live [...]

A United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy launch vehicle has lifted-off with NASA’s next major space observatory, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST). The launch from Cape Canaveral’s SLC 17-B was slightly delayed to 12:05pm EDT.
NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with background, up to the second live updates, images, [...]

Following its opening journey on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II launch vehicle, NASA’s Phoenix mission bridged the gap between Earth and Mars and – from all current indications – landed successfully. Controllers at JPL are now awaiting the first images from the newest spacecraft to land on the Red Planet.
The event [...]

A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL has launched with Galaxy 18 – a new Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) satellite for the PanAmSat Corporation – into a geosynchronous transfer orbit from its equatorial launch site in the Pacific ocean. Launch was on time at 2:43am PDT.
NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with background, [...]

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V (AV-014) has launched with the ICO-GI commercial telecommunications satellite from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-41 in Florida. Launch was on schedule at 4:12pm EDT.
NASASpaceflight.com covered the launch as a live event, with background, live updates, images – available on the links below (read more).

A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL has launched for the second time since its 2007 failure, carrying the DIRECTV 11 HD TV Satellite. Lift-off – in very cloudy conditions – was at 22:48 UTC.
DIRECTV 11, with a mass of a 5923 kg (13,058 lb), is one of three recent Boeing 702-model spacecraft built for [...]