Tag: Earth observation
-
Cluster of satellites meets Soyuz launcher in French Guiana
The three-stage Soyuz rocket rolled out to its launch pad in French Guiana on Tuesday, three days before liftoff. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – JM Guillon Five European satellites packaged inside an aerodynamic fairing have joined a Soyuz rocket its launch pad in the French Guiana jungle for a roaring ride…
-
Jason 3 satellite begins surveying world’s oceans
Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite mapping the ocean surface with its radar altimeter. Credit: NASA Two months after its foggy blastoff from California on a Falcon 9 rocket, a $364 million oceanography satellite has returned the first data from its radar altimeter mapping global sea levels, catching this year’s ongoing El Niño in the…
-
Russian Earth observing satellite delivered to orbit
A Soyuz rocket lifts off at 1856 GMT (2:56 p.m. EDT) with the Resurs P3 Earth observation satellite. Credit: TsENKI TV A day after a rare last-minute abort by its Soyuz launcher, a sharp-eyed civilian-operated Russian Earth observation satellite blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Sunday on a five-year mission, giving Russia a fleet…
-
Soyuz launch halted just before engine start
The launch of a Russian Earth observation satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket has been rescheduled for Sunday after a countdown Saturday stopped less than 20 seconds before liftoff. The Russian space agency — Roscosmos — said the launch was reset for 1856 GMT (2:56 p.m. EDT) Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the…
-
Soyuz launch halted just before engine start
The launch of a Russian Earth observation satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket has been rescheduled for Sunday after a countdown Saturday stopped less than 20 seconds before liftoff. The Russian space agency — Roscosmos — said the launch was reset for 1856 GMT (2:56 p.m. EDT) Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the…
-
Look back on the blastoff of a Russian missile-turned-launcher
A Soviet-era missile originally built to deliver nuclear warheads to the United States in wartime fired into space for a much different purpose Tuesday, carrying a European environmental satellite into orbit to help track the effects of climate change. The 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot booster lifted off at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST; 8:57 p.m. local…
-
European oceanography satellite rides Russian rocket into orbit
The Sentinel 3A satellite lifted off at 1757:40 GMT (12:57:40 p.m. EST). Credit: ESA Soaring into the night sky over a guarded Russian military base, a 1.2-ton European satellite rocketed into orbit Tuesday to regularly measure how the world’s oceans and ice sheets respond to climate change and drive global weather patterns. Valued at more…
-
Live coverage: European ocean survey satellite launches from Russia
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rockot launcher with Europe’s Sentinel 3A environmental monitoring satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
-
Photos: Sentinel 3A prepared for liftoff
Europe’s Sentinel 3A satellite, designed for real-time surveys of the world’s oceans, ice sheets, lakes and rivers, is attached to a decommissioned Russian nuclear missile for launch Tuesday. The 2,526-pound (1,146-kilogram) spacecraft is fitted inside the nose cone of a 95-foot-tall (29-meter) Rockot launcher at Complex 133 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military facility in…
-
Satellite primed for launch to survey oceans, ice sheets
Artist’s view of the launch of Sentinel 3A aboard a Russian Rockot vehicle. This illustration depicts the Rockot’s payload fairing jettisoning a few minutes after liftoff, revealing Sentinel 3A. Credit: ESA–Pierre Carril Russian rocket technicians fueled a decommissioned ballistic missile with propellants Monday, a day ahead of the launch of a European satellite primed to…