Tag: Arianespace
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Operations resume at European-run launch base in French Guiana
An Ariane 5 rocket set to launch Brazilian and South Korean communications satellites was grounded March 20 when workers began a strike in French Guiana. The rocket is seen here March 2 during a transfer between the spaceport’s launcher integration building and final assembly building. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P.…
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Italian radar satellite, European exoplanet telescope to launch on Soyuz next year
File photo of a Soyuz launch from French Guiana in 2015. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin The Italian government has decided to launch two next-generation radar reconnaissance satellites on Soyuz and Vega rockets from French Guiana, and a European Space Agency telescope to study the structures of planets around…
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Launches from Kourou temporarily suspended by social unrest
A barricade outside the Guiana Space Center. Credit: France Guyane The launch an Ariane 5 rocket with Brazilian and Korean communications satellites that was set for this week has been postponed indefinitely after protesters blocked access to the French Guiana spaceport. The heavy-lift launcher was scheduled to lift off Tuesday, but widespread protests and a…
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Ariane 5 launch pushed back to Wednesday by labor strikes in Kourou
The Ariane 5’s payload fairing is lowered over the Koreasat 7 satellite March 11. The main thruster of the SGDC communications craft, which will ride in the upper position inside the Ariane 5 fairing, is visible above Koreasat 7. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon A work stoppage at the…
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Photos: Vega rocket vaults off launch pad
Firing off the launch pad with more than a half-million pounds of thrust, a Vega rocket soared into space Monday night from French Guiana with Europe’s Sentinel 2B environmental satellite. The 98-foot-tall (30-meter), four-stage rocket, powered by Italian and Ukrainian propulsion, took off at 10:49:24 p.m. local time in French Guiana (0149:24 GMT; 8:49:24 p.m.…
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Environmental sentinel launched from French Guiana
The Vega rocket took off from the Guiana Space Center at 10:49 p.m. French Guiana time Monday. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – G. Barbaste A European environmental satellite rode a solid-fueled Vega launcher from a tropical spaceport at the edge of the Amazon jungle into polar orbit Monday night, adding a…
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Live coverage: European environmental satellite launched by Vega rocket
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with the Sentinel 2A land imaging satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. Arianespace’s live video stream begins at approximately 0130 GMT (8:30 p.m. EST). Please ensure your browser is updated with the latest…
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Launch timeline for Vega rocket’s flight with Sentinel 2B
Europe’s fifth Sentinel Earth observation satellite will ride a four-stage Vega rocket into polar orbit 488 miles (786 kilometers) above Earth to begin tracking changes in agriculture and forestry patterns and monitoring natural disasters. The ascent will take nearly an hour following launch from French Guiana at 0149:24 GMT March 7 (8:49:24 p.m. EST March 6). Credit: Arianespace T+00:00:00 – Liftoff The Vega rocket’s first stage P80 solid rocket motor ignites and powers the…
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OneWeb to break ground on Florida factory, merge with Intelsat
Artist’s concept of the OneWeb factory at Exploration Park, Florida. Credit: OneWeb Days before breaking ground on a new spacecraft assembly line near Cape Canaveral, OneWeb and Intelsat announced a proposed merger Tuesday that would couple a planned fleet of 900 broadband Internet satellites with a high-power communications network in geostationary orbit. The “share-to-share” merger,…
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Europe’s next Sentinel land imaging satellite mated to rocket booster
Ground crews have mounted the fully-fueled Sentinel 2B spacecraft, the next mission in Europe’s multibillion-dollar Copernicus Earth observation satellite fleet, on top of a Vega rocket inside a protective gantry on its launch pad in French Guiana for blastoff next month. The satellite was encapsulated inside the Vega rocket’s Swiss-made composite nose shroud Feb. 15,…