Tag: European Space Agency
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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…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches oceanography satellite from California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The mission will launch the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite for NASA, the European Space Agency, the European Commission, Eumetsat, and NOAA. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.…
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International satellite launches to extend measurements of sea level rise
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite. Credit: SpaceX A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on…
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European Vega rocket suffers second failure in three launches
A Vega rocket took off Monday night from French Guiana with two European satellites, but the launcher failed to deploy the payloads into orbit. Credit: Arianespace A European Vega rocket crashed back to Earth shortly after launching from French Guiana carrying a Spanish land imaging satellite and a French research probe with a combined value…
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Arianespace traces cause of Vega launch failure to ‘human error’
This frame grab from Arianespace’s live launch webcast shows an animation of the Vega rocket’s AVUM upper stage with the SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite. Credit: Arianespace Inverted cables on the Vega rocket’s upper stage control system apparently caused the launcher to tumble minutes after liftoff Monday night, a failure that resulted in the loss of…
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Vega rocket poised for launch with satellites for Spain and France
The SEOSat-Ingenio Earth observation satellite is seen mounted on top of the Vega rocket’s Vespa dual-payload adapter before encapsulation inside the payload shroud. The French Taranis satellite is contained inside the Vespa structure. Credit: Airbus A Spanish Earth observation spacecraft and a French research satellite to probe luminous phenomena above thunderstorms are packaged inside the…
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Live coverage: Arianespace probing “anomaly” shortly after Vega launch
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Vega rocket with the Spanish SEOSAT-Ingenio Earth observation satellite and the French Taranis research satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Arianespace’s live video webcast begins at approximately 0132 GMT (8:32 p.m. EST), and will be available on this page.
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International Space Station offers ‘blueprint’ for exploration, first crew says
Cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko, commander Bill Shepherd, and flight engineer Sergei Krikalev on-board the International Space Station in December 2000. Credit: NASA Bill Shepherd, a former Navy SEAL-turned astronaut who arrived at the International Space Station 20 years ago Monday to begin the continuous occupancy of the orbiting research outpost, says the experience gained by NASA…
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Mercury-bound spacecraft gets an assist from Venus
A sequence of images taken by one of the monitoring cameras on board the European-Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury, as the spacecraft made a close approach of Venus on Oct. 15, 2020. Credit: ESA/BepiColombo/MTM The European-Japanese BepiColombo spacecraft flew by Venus late Wednesday, using the planet’s gravity to help redirect the probe toward its ultimate…
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JWST completes tests to simulate rigors of launch
The fully-assembled James Webb Space Telescope is lifted at a Northrop Grumman facility in Redondo Beach, California, during recent environmental testing. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn The fully-assembled James Webb Space Telescope has completed testing in Southern California to verify the $10 billion mission can withstand the sound and shaking it will see during launch scheduled late…