Tag: Arianespace
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Europe’s first mission to Jupiter poised for launch from South America
The European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE, spacecraft is buttoned up for launch inside the payload fairing of an Ariane 5 rocket. The illustration on the Ariane 5 payload fairing was the winning submission in a children’s art competition, drawn by eight-year-old Yaryna from Ukraine. Credit:ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut The European Space Agency’s $1.7…
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Starship debut leading the rocket industry toward full reusability
Starship’s first orbital flight is currently planned for March. This is the first time the anticipated flight date of the vehicle is in the current month, and with that, a future of fully reusable rockets is getting closer. But not only is Starship aiming for reusability, but the rest of the industry is also moving…
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Arianespace suffers failure on first operational Vega-C mission
Arianespace has suffered a failure during Vega-Consolidation’s (Vega-C) first operational launch, which was set to carry the Pléiades Neo 5 and 6 Earth-observation satellites to a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Vega-C lifted off from the Ensemble de Lancement Vega (ELV) pad at the Guiana Space Centre on Dec. 20 at 10:47 PM local time (01:47 UTC…
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Arianespace launches three spacecraft, Intelsat talks satellite refresh efforts
Arianespace has successfully lifted three satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on Tuesday from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana using the veteran Ariane 5 launcher. Liftoff occurred at the opening of a 106-minute long window that extends from 20:30-22:16 UTC. The mission delivered an advanced European meteorological satellite and two Galaxy telecommunications…
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Ariane 6 debut slips to end of 2023, teams prep for Combined Test
The debut of Europe’s new heavy-lift launcher, Ariane 6, has slipped once again, this time to a no-earlier-than target of the “last quarter of 2023.” News of the delay came from ESA, CNES, ArianeGroup, and Arianespace officials during an Oct. 19 media briefing, though officials declined to define what caused the most recent multi-month delay…
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Ariane 5 launches advanced broadband satellite for Eutelsat
Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket returned to action on September 7, deploying a high-power communications satellite for French operator Eutelsat. Liftoff from the Centre Spatial Guyanais in Kourou, French Guiana occurred on time at 6:45 PM local time (21:45 UTC) at the opening of an 86-minute launch window. Wednesday’s launch deployed Eutelsat Konnect VHTS — or…
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ESA launches upgraded Vega-C rocket on first mission
Vega-C, the newest iteration of the European Vega rocket, has launched on its debut flight, VV21. Vega-C boasts a higher payload capacity and lower cost per kilogram of payload than the original Vega rocket. As part of its first mission, the vehicle carried seven payloads from several European nations to a targetted 6,000 km medium…
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The final five: Ariane 5’s march to retirement begins with dual passenger launch
Arianespace, ArianeGroup, and the European Space Agency (ESA) have launched their second flight of the year and the first for the veteran Ariane 5 rocket, which begins its trek toward retirement with the first of its five final planned missions. The mission lifted off from Kourou in French Guiana at 5:50 PM EDT (21:50 UTC)…
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Arianespace, ULA, Blue Origin discuss executing ambitious Kuiper constellation missions for Amazon
Amazon’s announcement of three launch contracts totaling 83 flights split across Ariane 6, Vulcan, and New Glenn represents the largest commercial launch block buy in history and will unite Arianespace, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin in a multi-year effort to deploy the Kuiper internet constellation. The contracts represent unique challenges to some providers and…
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Amazon reserves up to 83 rocket launches for Project Kuiper broadband satellite constellation
Amazon plans to have satellites sent into orbit by (from left) United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rockets, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rockets and Arianespace’s Ariane 6 rockets. (Amazon Illustration) Amazon has secured as many as 83 launches on three types of heavy-lift rockets to put more than 1,500 satellites into low Earth orbit for its…