Tag: Eumetsat
-
ESA Advances Aeolus-2 Weather Satellite with €70 Million Development Award
The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the selection of a prime contractor for its Aeolus-2 weather satellite program and is preparing to issue an initial €70 million contract to begin the next phase of development, according to project officials. Aeolus-2 is intended as the operational successor to the original Aeolus mission, which was built…
-
SpaceX Marks 500th Reused-Rocket Orbital Mission With Launch of EU Ocean-Mapping Satellite
SpaceX launched a European ocean-monitoring satellite from California early Monday, completing the company’s 500th orbital mission using a flight-proven rocket booster. The Sentinel-6B spacecraft lifted off atop a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:21 a.m. EST (0521 GMT). “Sentinel-6B rising, extending nearly four decades of the precise sea-level record from space,” NASA…
-
Sentinel-6B ocean monitoring satellite launches aboard Falcon 9
Sentinel-6B, a joint US-European ocean monitoring satellite, launched Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base took place at 9:21 p.m. Pacific time (05:21 UTC on Monday). The Sentinel-6B spacecraft is the second of two Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS) missions, launching five years after its sister satellite, Sentinel-6A Michael…
-
EUMETSAT, ESA launches combo MTG-S1, Sentinel-4 satellite on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A with the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite from the European Oganisation for the Exploration of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now A European satellite designed to augment both weather monitoring and assessments of air quality and pollution for Europe and North Africa…
-
Rocket Report: Firefly delivers for NASA; Polaris Dawn launching this month
Welcome to Edition 7.01 of the Rocket Report! We’re compiling this week’s report a day later than usual due to the Independence Day holiday. Ars is beginning its seventh year publishing this weekly roundup of rocket news, and there’s a lot of it this week despite the holiday here in the United States. Worldwide, there…
-
Eumetsat Shifts Weather Satellite Launch to Falcon 9, Surprising European Space Sector
Eumetsat, the European weather satellite operator, has unexpectedly decided to launch its upcoming Meteosat Third Generation-Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) satellite on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket instead of Europe’s Ariane 6, a move that has stirred frustration among European space officials. Announced late on June 28, Eumetsat attributed the decision to “exceptional circumstances” but did not elaborate…
-
Mere days before its debut, the Ariane 6 rocket loses a key customer to SpaceX
In a shocking announcement this week, the European intergovernmental organization responsible for launching and operating the continent’s weather satellites has pulled its next mission off a future launch of Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket. Instead, the valuable MTG-S1 satellite will now reach geostationary orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in 2025. “This decision was driven…
-
Arianespace launches three spacecraft, Intelsat talks satellite refresh efforts
Arianespace has successfully lifted three satellites into geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) on Tuesday from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana using the veteran Ariane 5 launcher. Liftoff occurred at the opening of a 106-minute long window that extends from 20:30-22:16 UTC. The mission delivered an advanced European meteorological satellite and two Galaxy telecommunications…
-
Photos: Falcon 9 launches and lands at Vandenberg Air Force Base
This composite image captures the launch of the the Falcon 9 rocket from SLC-4E at Vandenberg, followed by the booster’s return to Landing Zone 4 more than eight minutes later. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now These photos show the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 21 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in…
-
Photos: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich encapsulated for launch
The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite — named for the former head of NASA’s Earth science division who died of cancer earlier this year — is affixed to the top of the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket awaiting liftoff from the Central Coast of California at 12:17:08 p.m. EST (9:17:08 a.m. PST; 1717:08 GMT) Saturday. The…