Tag: Arianespace

  • European space plane flies around the world on test flight

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    Artist’s concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Credit: ESA Europe launched a sleek new space plane more than 250 miles above Earth on Wednesday, testing its maneuverability, on-board guidance systems, and a next-generation heat shield as the experimental vehicle glided through the atmosphere toward a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The test flight marked…

  • ESA re-entry vehicle could pave way for reusable launcher

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    Artist’s concept of the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Credit: ESA European engineers are eager to test an experimental re-entry demonstrator Wednesday to validate technologies for future robotic exploration probes, winged space planes, and reusable rocket boosters. The European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle — about the size of a family car — will take off at…

  • Live coverage: European mini-shuttle back on Earth

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    Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with the European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

  • Galileo satellite deployment campaign to resume

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    One of two Galileo satellites is unloaded from an Air France Boeing 747 cargo plane on Thursday after arrival in Cayenne, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/Paul Muller Two Galileo navigation satellites arrived at the Guiana Space Center in South America on Thursday after a trans-Atlantic flight from Paris, as European officials plan the resumption of Galileo…

  • Photos: ESA re-entry testbed prepared for liftoff

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    Engineers have put the finishing touches on a prototype spaceship representing a leap in European space technology, aiming for liftoff Feb. 11 for a flight 260 miles into space and back to Earth for a pinpoint splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The Intermediate Experimental Vehicle will blast off aboard a lightweight European Vega launcher from…

  • Europe’s re-entry demonstrator mated to Vega rocket

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    .@esa #ixv and #vega finally together for the last preparation phase! #VV04 #100minutemission pic.twitter.com/QMHTViKThh — ESA IXV (@esa_ixv) January 31, 2015 Launch crews in French Guiana have mounted an innovative European space plane on top of a solid-fueled Vega launcher for a Feb. 11 suborbital test flight. The European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle was…

  • Launch campaign resumes for ESA space plane

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    The European Space Agency’s Intermediate Experimental Vehicle inside a clean room at the Guiana Space Center. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon Engineers are resuming preparations to launch an experimental European re-entry test vehicle on a Vega rocket Feb. 11 after a two-month delay ordered by safety authorities to analyze…

  • 2014’s launch tally highest in two decades

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    The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flew nine times in 2014, more than any other U.S. launcher. Six of the missions flew from Cape Canaveral, which was the starting point for 16 space launches in 2014, tied for the highest number of launches there since 2003. Credit: ULA There were more successful space launches…

  • Photos: Soyuz soars skyward from French Guiana

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    Flying for the 10th time from a tropical launch facility along the South American coastline, a Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off Dec. 18 and streaked through partly sunny skies with four satellites to extend the reach of the O3b Networks,  a company founded to bring broadband to the world’s most remote and impoverished countries. The…

  • Third quartet of satellites launched for O3b Networks

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    The Soyuz rocket lifted off at 1837 GMT (1:37 p.m. EST; 3:37 p.m. local time) from the Guiana Space Center on the northern coast of South America. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon A Soyuz rocket lifted off from French Guiana on Thursday, launching four satellites owned by O3b Networks…