Tag: Earth observation
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Photos: Converted Russian ballistic missile fires into space with satellite
A decommissioned missile originally built in Russia to deliver nuclear weapons to intercontinental targets in the United States vaulted out of a vertical canister Friday and fired into space with a European satellite to monitor global air pollution. The 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot booster took off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 1127:44 GMT…
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Modified Russian missile boosts Europe’s newest environmental sentinel to space
A Rockot booster made from decommissioned Russian military missile stages carried Europe’s Sentinel 5P satellite to orbit Friday. Credit: ESA A European satellite that will collect daily air quality measurements over every major city on Earth rode an uprated Russian ballistic missile into orbit Friday. Assembled in Britain with a significant Dutch contribution, the Sentinel…
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Photos: Sentinel 5P environmental satellite prepared for liftoff
Europe’s Sentinel 5P satellite, fitted with a Dutch-developed spectrometer to measure gases in Earth’s atmosphere, was fueled and mated to its Russian Rockot booster over the last month at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military complex around 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow. The 1,800-pound (820-kilogram) spacecraft is set for launch Friday at 0927:44 GMT…
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Live coverage: European environmental satellite launches from Russia
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rockot launcher with Europe’s Sentinel 5P environmental monitoring satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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China successfully launches Earth-imaging satellite for Venezuela
A Long March 2D rocket lifted off Monday with the VRSS 2 satellite for Venezuela. Credit: CGWIC A Chinese Long March 2D rocket launched Venezuela’s second Earth-observing surveillance satellite Monday, adding a new space-based reconnaissance asset the country’s government says it will use to aid security forces, emergency responders, farmers, and health professionals. The two-stage,…
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China resumes launch campaigns after string of failures, delays lunar mission
A Long March 2C rocket launched Sept. 29 from the Xichang space center in southwest China, the first Chinese space launch since July 2. Credit: Xinhua The launch of three experimental remote sensing satellites last week signaled the resumption of Chinese space launches following multiple rocket failures since late last year, but a senior Chinese…
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GRACE satellites to end research mission in November, before replacements launch
Artist’s concept of the GRACE satellites in orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Two U.S.-German satellites launched more than 15 years ago to measure Earth’s changing gravity field will stop collecting data in November, a few months before a pair of replacement craft will launch to resume gravity measurements, NASA officials said. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment,…
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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…
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Taiwanese satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit
The Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Thursday with Formosat 5. Credit: SpaceX Flying with an exceptionally lightweight payload, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered a multipurpose research satellite into a nearly 450-mile-high orbit Thursday for Taiwan following a smooth countdown and liftoff from California’s Central Coast. Weighing in at about a half-ton, or 475 kilograms, the…
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Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 launch and landing
Watch a replay of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California carrying Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean and seconds later the satellite was released from the rocket’s second stage into orbit. Video: SpaceX