Tag: European Space Agency

  • Proton rocket rolled out for launch of Eutelsat satellite

    Riding on its side aboard a rail car, a Proton rocket trekked to its launch pad Tuesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with a Eutelsat television broadcast satellite ready for liftoff Friday. The Proton rocket reached Complex 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome early Tuesday, then hydraulic lifts hoisted the rocket vertical before mobile access…

  • LISA Pathfinder on station a million miles from Earth

    Artist’s concept of the LISA Pathfinder science module separation from the spacecraft’s propulsion section. Credit: ESA/C.Carreau Europe’s LISA Pathfinder mission crafted to demonstrate the ability to detect gravitational waves — theorized ubiquitous cosmic signals that have so far eluded discovery — has arrived at its operating post around the L1 Lagrange point nearly a million…

  • ESA wants to be a part of NASA’s mission to Europa

    Artist’s concept of the Europa mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech As NASA quietly works on a lander that could accompany a $2 billion flyby probe to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, the head of the European Space Agency’s science program tells Spaceflight Now that Europe is ready to play a significant role in the project. The goals of…

  • ESA wants to be a part of NASA’s mission to Europa

    Artist’s concept of the Europa mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech As NASA quietly works on a lander that could accompany a $2 billion flyby probe to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, the head of the European Space Agency’s science program tells Spaceflight Now that Europe is ready to play a significant role in the project. The goals of…

  • European Mars probe arrives at launch site

    The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is closed inside a shipping container before leaving Thales Alenia Space’s facility in Cannes, France, on Dec. 17. Credit: ESA – B. Bethge Three heavy-duty Antonov cargo planes flew components of Europe’s ExoMars orbiter and lander from Italy to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazkhastan last week, setting up for a…

  • European Mars probe arrives at launch site

    The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is closed inside a shipping container before leaving Thales Alenia Space’s facility in Cannes, France, on Dec. 17. Credit: ESA – B. Bethge Three heavy-duty Antonov cargo planes flew components of Europe’s ExoMars orbiter and lander from Italy to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazkhastan last week, setting up for a…

  • Hubble telescope’s successor has a ride to space

    File photo of an Ariane 5 ECA launch. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG The European Space Agency has cinched an agreement with Arianespace for the October 2018 launch of the James Webb Space Telescope aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, which will dispatch the nearly $10 billion observatory on a bold mission that…

  • Soyuz/Galileo launch timeline

    Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with two satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation system. A listing of exact times for the flight’s major events is posted below. Data source: Arianespace T-0:00:03: Engines at Full Thrust The five main engines of the Soyuz rocket’s core stage…

  • Live coverage: Soyuz launches on 13th flight from French Guiana

    Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana with two Galileo navigation satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

  • Soyuz launches two more Galileo satellites

    The Soyuz rocket carrying the 11th and 12th satellites for Europe’s Galileo navigation program lifted off at 1151:56 GMT (6:51:56 a.m.; 8:51:56 a.m. local time) from French Guiana. ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – S. Martin Two more satellites joined Europe’s Galileo navigation fleet in orbit Thursday after launch from French Guiana aboard…