Tag: commercial-space
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Launch timeline for Ariane 5’s flight with Intelsat 37e and BSAT 4a
An Ariane 5 rocket will fire into the sky from French Guiana just after sunset Tuesday and deliver two payloads to orbit for Intelsat, one of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators, and Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. of Japan. The nearly 180-foot-tall (55-meter) launcher will blast off from Kourou, French Guiana, at 2151 GMT (5:51…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 launch aborted
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the Intelsat 37e and BSAT 4a communications satellites. 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 2136 GMT (5:36 p.m. EDT).
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Photos: Ariane 5 rolls to launch pad
These photos show Monday’s rollout of an Ariane 5 rocket on a 1.7-mile (2.7-kilometer) journey to its launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in South America. Towed along dual rail tracks behind a diesel-powered Titan tug, the Ariane 5 and its mobile launch platform were transferred from the spaceport’s final assembly building to the…
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Last-second launch abort grounds two U.S.-built communications satellites
Exhaust from the Ariane 5’s Vulcain 2 main engine erupts from the flame trench at the ELA-3 launch pad at the Guiana Space Center, as birds scatter from the sound generated at ignition. Credit: Arianespace An Ariane 5 countdown in French Guiana was aborted Tuesday with the European-made rocket’s main engine already running, postponing the…
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Video: Ariane 5 countdown halted after engine start
Video credit: Arianespace Liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket from a tropical launch pad in South America was halted moments after its main engine ignited Tuesday in a rare last-second abort for the heavy-lift launcher. The Ariane 5 was counting down to liftoff at 2151 GMT (5:51 p.m. EDT; 6:51 p.m. French Guiana time), but…
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Falcon 9 rocket fired up for launch of military mini-shuttle
The Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin 1D engines at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). Credit: William Harwood/CBS News Running through a practice countdown and hold-down engine firing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket passed a key checkpoint Thursday ahead of liftoff next week with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth…
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Video: SpaceX rocket runs through hotfire test at pad 39A
SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket ignited its Merlin main engines for several seconds Thursday at Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A ahead of a planned launch next week. The Merlin 1D engines fired at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), sending a plume of exhaust out the flame trench to the north of pad 39A. Liftoff is…
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Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser space plane takes to the air for captive-carry test
Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser prototype space plane is suspended beneath a helicopter during a captive-carry flight test at Edwards Air Force Base in California. (SNC via Facebook Live) Sierra Nevada Corp.’s prototype Dream Chaser space plane, also known as the “mini-space shuttle,” successfully went through its first in-the-air test in four years today at…
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Dream Chaser completes aerial captive carry test flight
Updated after test completion. Credit: Sierra Nevada Corp. Sierra Nevada Corp. conducted a captive carry test flight of the Dream Chaser spaceplane Wednesday at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research in California. About one-quarter the length of a space shuttle orbiter, the Dream Chaser is being developed to ferry cargo to and from the International Space Station. After…
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Photos: SpaceX rocket climbs into orbit from Vandenberg
The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Aug. 24 from California delivered Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth-imaging satellite to orbit, and the Falcon’s first stage booster returned to landing on a drone ship downrange in the Pacific Ocean. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket lifted off at 11:51 a.m. PDT (2:51 p.m. EDT; 1851 GMT) from Space…