Tag: Arianespace
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Seven-minute hotfire test moves Europe’s Ariane 6 rocket closer to flight
The European Space Agency (ESA) declared success after an Ariane 6 rocket fired its core-stage engine in French Guiana for seven minutes on Thursday, clearing one of a handful of remaining hurdles before the new launcher can lift off on its first test flight. The Ariane 6’s inaugural launch, now scheduled for next year, has…
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Rocket Report: China launches 3-man crew; SpaceX adds to busy manifest
Welcome to Edition 6.17 of the Rocket Report! Two Asian powers notched achievements in their human spaceflight programs this week. In China, three astronauts launched to begin a six-month expedition on the Tiangong space station. With this mission, China is settling into a routine of operations on the Tiangong complex. Elsewhere in Asia, India took…
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Arianespace’s Vega launches 12 satellites on VV23 mission
Arianespace’s lightweight Vega rocket launched on its penultimate flight Sunday, carrying the THEOS-2 Earth-observation satellite for Thailand, Taiwan’s Triton (FORMOSAT-7R) weather satellite, and ten small satellites. Lifoff from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana came after a scrub 48 hours previously. The launch was only Arianespace’s third mission of 2023. Following the retirement…
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ESA still seems shy about sharing news on Ariane 6 rocket testing
Last month, a full-scale test model of Europe’s Ariane 6 was put to the test on its launch pad in the jungles of French Guiana. For the first time, the launch team at the tropical spaceport loaded cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the Ariane 6 over the course of a marathon 26-hour test…
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Amazon unveils plans for $120 million satellite processing facility for its internet constellation
A rendering of Amazon’s proposed satellite processing facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The 100,000-square-foot facility will be used to prepare satellites for its Project Kuiper internet constellation for launch aboard rockets from ULA and Blue Origin. On Friday, online retail giant amazon will join with members of Space Florida to reveal its plans for…
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Goodbye to the Ariane 5, the ‘Swiss Knife’ of Europe’s launch industry
The Ariane 5 flew for the very last time on Wednesday, July 5, sending government communication satellites for Germany and France into space. Also known as flight VA261, the rocket launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, at 22:00 UTC. The satellites onboard the Ariane 5 included the Heinrich-Hertz (H2SAT), on…
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Swiss company selects Arianespace to launch first space debris removal mission
Artist’s concept of ClearSpace’s spacecraft approaching a piece of space debris from a previous Vega rocket launch in 2013. Credit: ClearSpace Swiss-based in-orbit servicing startup ClearSpace has contracted Arianespace to launch its first debris removal mission to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram (220-pound) piece of space debris. Europe’s Vega C will launch the ClearSpace-1 servicer…
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Viasat seeks replacement for Ariane 6 for launch of third ViaSat 3 satellite
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated May 1 with schedule for launch of ViaSat 3 APAC. A full-scale test model of an Ariane 6 rocket stands on its launch pad in French Guiana last year. Credit:ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch…
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Europe launches spacecraft on eight-year journey to explore Jupiter’s moons
A European Ariane 5 rocket lifts off from the Guiana Space Center with the Juicy Icy Moons Explorer mission. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace/JM Guillon An Ariane 5 rocket took off from French Guiana Friday with the heaviest interplanetary science probe ever launched, kicking off a $1.7 billion European Space Agency mission on a decade-long quest to Jupiter’s…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 rocket launches Europe’s first mission to Jupiter
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”SFN Live”] [tabbyending] Arianespace’s live video webcast will begin approximately one hour before…