Tag: Airbus Defense and Space
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Live coverage: Japan’s H-2A rocket blasts off on first commercial flight
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Japanese H-2A rocket with the Telstar 12 Vantage communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Japanese H-2A rocket delivers for Telesat
Japan’s H-2A rocket soars into the sky at 0650 GMT (1:50 a.m. EST; 3:50 p.m. Japan Standard Time) with the Telstar 12 Vantage communications satellite. Credit: MHI Flying its most complex mission to date, a Japanese H-2A rocket fired off a launch pad and roared into space from southern Japan on Tuesday, heading for an…
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Sporting new upgrades, H-2A rocket readied for flight
A Japanese H-2A rocket arrived at the launch pad Monday for liftoff with the Telstar 12 Vantage communications satellite. Credit: MHI A Japanese H-2A rocket is set for liftoff Tuesday on its first fully commercial mission, carrying a communications satellite for Telesat of Canada that will bridge the Atlantic Ocean with expanded coverage for television…
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Vega booster crowned with gravitational probe pathfinder
LISA Pathfinder and its orbit-raising propulsion module were enclosed inside the Vega rocket’s payload fairing Nov. 16. Credit: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut, 2015 After criss-crossing Europe for a decade, the LISA Pathfinder satellite testbed has reached its last stop before launch in early December on a mission to demonstrate the delicate technologies required to detect elusive low-frequency gravitational…
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Arab and Indian satellites fly aboard Ariane 5
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon A European Ariane 5 rocket, burning a cryogenic mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, thundered into the sky over French Guiana at dusk Tuesday with two communications relay satellites to serve the Arab world and India. Like clockwork, the rocket lit its liquid-fueled Vulcain…
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Launch managers sign off on final Ariane 5 flight of 2015
A team member working on the next Ariane 5 flight signs the rocket’s payload fairing ahead of Tuesday’s liftoff. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin A launch readiness review Friday cleared an Ariane 5 rocket for liftoff Tuesday with two communications satellites for Arabsat and India, the first three missions from…
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ESA hopes to commit to 2018 Mars rover launch by December
The ExoMars 2018 rover will be assembled by Airbus Defense and Space at its facility in Stevenage, UK. A “Mars Yard” test array has been constructed at the Stevenage plant. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space With the flagship-class ExoMars program nearing the finish line after a decade in development, European Space Agency officials want to…
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New satellite joins Europe’s growing Earth observing network
The Vega rocket with Sentinel 2A blasted off at 0151:58 GMT Tuesday (9:51:58 p.m. EDT Monday) from Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA–M. Pedoussaut, 2015 A new satellite to monitor crops, pollution and the growth of cities blasted off Monday from a tropical spaceport in French Guiana, adding another piece to Europe’s multibillion-dollar fleet of spacecraft…
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‘Europe’s Landsat’ in the starting blocks
Artist’s concept of the Sentinel 2A satellite in orbit. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab The first in a planned multi-decade series of European land imaging satellites is fastened on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher at a French Guiana space base for liftoff Monday, kicking off a mission to track everything from global crop growth to urban…
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OneWeb selects Airbus to build 900 Internet satellites
Artist’s concept of a OneWeb satellite. Credit: OneWeb Airbus Defense and Space and OneWeb, a startup backed by Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and wireless tech giant Qualcomm, announced Monday plans to set up a joint venture for the construction of 900 Internet broadcasting satellites for launches beginning in 2018. OneWeb’s selection of Airbus comes after…