Tag: Electric Propulsion
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Vega launcher achieves on-target deployment of Earth-imaging satellites
Firing off a launch pad on the fringes of the Amazon rainforest, a European Vega rocket climbed into space Tuesday night and deployed a new optical surveillance craft for the Italian military and a French-Israeli environmental satellite to monitor vegetation, snow cover and coastal waterways. The Optsat 3000 and Venµs satellites lifted off at 0158:33…
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Live coverage: Arianespace launches 10th Vega rocket
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with the Optsat 3000 and Venµs Earth observation satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. Watch on a mobile device. Arianespace’s live video stream begins at approximately 0145 GMT (9:45 p.m. EDT).
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Timeline for Vega launch with Optsat 3000 and Venµs
A Vega rocket is set to deliver two satellites into similar but distinct orbits for the Italian military and the French and Israeli space agencies. Here are the key events scheduled during the European Vega rocket’s launch from French Guiana with the Italian military’s Optsat 3000 high-resolution reconnaissance satellite and the French-Israeli Venµs environmental satellite.…
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Two Israeli-built satellites set for launch Tuesday
The Optsat 3000 satellite, seen at top, awaits encapsulation inside the Vega rocket’s payload fairing last month. The Venµs spacecraft is closed up inside the black dual-payload structure below Optsat 3000. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin A European Vega rocket is scheduled to launch Tuesday from a tropical spaceport…
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Europe’s lightweight Vega launcher nears 10th flight
The Vega rocket’s solid-fueled Zefiro 23 second stage was hoisted on top of the launcher’s first stage last month on a launch pad at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Piron A solid-fueled Vega rocket has been stacked on a launch pad in…
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BepiColombo Mercury mission tested for journey into ‘pizza oven’
A view of the BepiColombo spacecraft stacked in launch configuration at the European Space Agency’s ESTEC test center in the Netherlands. The sunshield cover for Japan’s Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter is pictured at lower right. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space Three spacecraft built in Europe and Japan have completed their final joint tests to ensure they…
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MSNW’s plasma thruster just might fire up Congress at hearing on space propulsion
Pulsed power units are arrayed around the business end of MSNW’s thruster. (MSNW Photo) How will we send humans to the moon, Mars and other destinations in space? The chances are good that electric propulsion will play a role, and a company called MSNW is at the cutting edge of that technology. The director of…
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Soyuz meets multipurpose SES-owned telecom satellite for Thursday launch
Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – J. Durrenberger A commercial communications satellite will blast off Thursday from French Guiana on top of a Soyuz rocket, on the way to a station over the Americas to supply bandwidth to airline travelers and broadcasters in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The SES 15…
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China’s highest-capacity communications satellite launched into orbit
A Long March 3B rocket blasted off Wednesday with China’s Shijian 13/Chinasat 16 communications satellite. Credit: Xinhua A Chinese Long March 3B rocket fired into space Wednesday with Shijian 13, also known as Chinasat 16, to deliver Internet connectivity to remote parts of China, airline travelers and high-speed trains. The Shijian 13 satellite also has…
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Future of asteroid deflection mission to be decided soon
Artist’s concept of the European-built AIM spacecraft, along with two proposed deployable CubeSats, observing the collision of NASA’s DART impactor with the moon of asteroid Didymos. Credit: ESA – ScienceOffice.org Decisions on the future of a joint robotic mission between NASA and the European Space Agency to demonstrate the ability to deflect an asteroid on…