Tag: Curie
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Launch Roundup: Starship and Ariane 6 launch after scrubs
SpaceX launches Starship’s eighth flight test, Arianespace’s Ariane 6 launches from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, and China sends another Chang Zheng 3B/E to space. Ariane 6 kicks off the week by launching high-resolution reconnaissance satellites for the French Space Agency, followed by Starship’s eighth flight test. Then, Chang Zheng 3B/E takes another…
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Launch Roundup: Soyuz flies; New Shepard simulates lunar gravity
This week’s launch manifest is quite diverse, featuring the launches of four different rockets worldwide. Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket has simulated the Moon’s gravity from just beyond the Kármán line, and Rocket Lab launched Electron for the first time this year from New Zealand. Russia launched Soyuz for the first time in 2025…
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Launch Roundup: Electron launches for the 50th time; Falcon 9 returns to normal operations
Concluding a rare week that was void of any launches and riddled with scrubs, the spaceflight industry looks to return to the planned course of action with four launches from all over the world. This week, the 50th launch of Electron has taken flight, and SpaceX and CASC continue to dominate the launch calendar. SpaceX…
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Two BlackSky satellites lost on Rocket Lab launch failure
An Electron rocket lifts off at 7:11 a.m. EDT (1111 GMT) Saturday from Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab A Rocket Lab Electron launcher malfunctioned about two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff from New Zealand Saturday, destroying two BlackSky Earth-imaging satellites in the launch company’s second failed flight in less than a year. Rocket Lab,…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab’s upper stage runs into trouble soon after launch
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying two BlackSky optical Earth observation satellites. Rocket Lab will attempt to recover the first stage at sea. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately…
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Rocket Lab ready for second booster recovery attempt
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher during a countdown dress rehearsal earlier this month. Credit: Rocket Lab The scheduled launch Saturday of two commercial BlackSky Earth-imaging satellites from New Zealand will double as an opportunity for Rocket Lab to test an enhanced heat shield on its Electron booster, an upgrade that should allow the company to recover…
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Rocket Lab launches communications satellite for OHB
An Electron launcher lifts off Wednesday from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1A in New Zealand. Credit: Rocket Lab A mysterious small satellite built by the German company OHB, purported to be a pathfinder for a Chinese-owned communications constellation, took off from New Zealand Wednesday and soared into orbit on top of a Rocket Lab Electron…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches from New Zealand on its first mission of 2021
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying a clandestine payload for the German company OHB. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video webcast begins approximately 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available…
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Rocket Lab set to launch super-secret satellite for German company
An Electron rocket stands on Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1A for the company’s first mission of 2021. Credit: Rocket Lab A small communications satellite built by the German company OHB — a payload so secret that no one has officially disclosed its name or end user — is set to ride a Rocket Lab Electron…
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Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective’s first radar satellite
A Rocket Lab Electron launcher takes off from New Zealand on Tuesday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world. The…