Tag: European Space Agency
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Dizzying final few months planned for Rosetta comet probe
Rosetta’s OSIRIS camera took this image of comet 67P on Jan. 23 at a distance of 75 kilometers (46 miles). Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA Entering the final months of a 12-year mission, Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft is again moving closer to the oddball comet that has engaged scientists since it arrived in 2014, heading…
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ExoMars orbiter and lander mated for final time
European technicians working at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan have bolted an Italian-built Mars lander to its mothership ahead of a March 14 launch toward the red planet. The attachment is a major step in preparations for next month’s launch the European Space Agency’s first mission to Mars since 2003, and the first of two…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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European communications relay satellite launched by Proton rocket
A commercial satellite designed to broadcast hundreds of television channels across Europe and better link European surveillance satellites and the International Space Station to scientists on the ground took off Friday from Kazakhstan aboard a Proton rocket. The Eutelsat 9B communications satellite carries conventional Ku-band transponders primed to beam television signals to homes and businesses…
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Live coverage: Proton fires into space with Eutelsat 9B
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Proton rocket with the Eutelsat 9B communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Laser-equipped satellite to inaugurate European data relay system
The Eutelsat 9B satellite and the hosted payload for the European Data Relay System are pictured before shipment to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for launch preparations. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space The first node of a space-based European laser communications network will soar into orbit Friday aboard a commercial Eutelsat broadcasting spacecraft, setting the keystone for…