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File photo of two Electron rockets on Rocket Lab’s two launch pads in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab’s next mission for the National Reconnaissance Office — the second of two back-to-back launches for the U.S. spy satellite agency — has been postponed to complete a software update on the classified payload, the NRO said Monday.
The Long March 5B rocket slated to launch the Wentian module to China’s space station emerges from its assembly building Monday at the Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island. Credit: CMSE
China moved a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket to its launch pad Monday in preparation for liftoff this weekend with a 22-ton module for the country’s Tiangong space station, a mission that could end with another uncontrolled re-entry of the Long March 5B’s large core stage.
A Long March 2C rocket lifts off from a fog-enshrouded launch pad at the Taiyuan space center. Credit: CASC
Two Earth observation satellites for China Siwei, a state-owned company aimed at the commercial remote sensing market, launched Friday on a Long March 2C rocket into an orbit more than 300 miles (490 kilometers) above Earth.
SpaceX launched 53 more Starlink internet satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
Fifty-three more Starlink internet satellites thundered into orbit from Cape Canaveral atop a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday on SpaceX’s 31st launch of the year, tying the company’s number of missions for all of 2021 and maintaining a pace of one flight per week.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starlink 4-22 mission launched SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.
A stack of Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket during a recent launch. Credit: SpaceX
Forecasters predict a 50-50 chance of good weather at Cape Canaveral for launch of SpaceX’s next batch of Starlink internet satellites Sunday on a Falcon 9 rocket.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin the 25th Dragon resupply flight to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo ship toward the International Space Station in a fiery twilight departure Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, hauling a $118 million climate instrument, fresh food, experiments, and other supplies for the lab’s seven-person crew.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch SpaceX’s 25th resupply mission to the International Space Station. Follow us on Twitter.
SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket roll out to pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of launch of the company’s 25th cargo mission to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX is set to launch its 25th cargo mission to the International Space Station Thursday night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, following a five-week delay to resolve a leak in the Dragon cargo capsule’s propulsion system.
A Long March 3B rocket lifts off with the Tianlian 2-03 data relay satellite. Credit: CASC
China launched the eighth satellite for its Tianlian data relay network in geostationary orbit on a Long March 3B rocket Tuesday, adding capacity to a constellation linking mission controllers with the Chinese space station and other low-orbiting spacecraft.
Europe’s Vega-C launcher lifts off from Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/S. Martin
The excitement of Europe’s successful inaugural launch of its Vega-C rocket Wednesday was palpable at the launch site in French Guiana as the countdown went into two technical holds during the two-hour window.
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifts off from New Zealand on the NROL-162 mission. Credit: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab launched a classified payload into orbit Wednesday for the National Reconnaissance Office, the first of two back-to-back Rocket Lab missions for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega-C rocket with the Italian Space Agency’s LARES 2 satellite for experimental physics research. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
The first Vega-C launcher inside its mobile gantry at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Credit:
ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut
Europe’s new Vega-C launcher, debuting more powerful rocket motors and a larger payload volume, is set to lift off on its first flight Wednesday from Kourou, French Guiana, to cap more than seven years of development.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand on a satellite delivery mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured the distinct signature of water, along with evidence for clouds and haze, in the atmosphere surrounding a hot, puffy gas giant planet orbiting a distant sun-like star. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Among the dazzling images from the James Webb Space Telescope released Tuesday was a squiggly line of spectral data that contained the tell-tale chemical fingerprint of water vapor and clouds in the atmosphere of a scorching hot planet circling a star 1,150 light-years from Earth.
This side-by-side comparison shows observations of the Southern Ring Nebula in near-infrared light, at left, and mid-infrared light, at right, from NASA’s Webb Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The James Webb Space Telescope’s multi-wavelength observations of the Southern Ring Nebula reveal the dying throes of a star flinging off vast amounts of stellar debris, and showed for the first time the star responsible for the spectacle is sheathed in its own cloak of dust.
Stephen’s Quintet viewed by the James Webb Space Telescope. The leftmost galaxy, named NGC 7320, is located 40 million light-years from Earth. The other four galaxies (NGC 7317, NGC 7318A, NGC 7318B, and NGC 7319) are closer together and are located about 290 million light-years away. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
The five galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet, prominently featured at the beginning of the holiday film “It’s a Wonderful Life,” were seen with new eyes by the James Webb Space Telescope.
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