ARIANESPACE TRACES CAUSE OF VEGA LAUNCH FAILURE TO ‘HUMAN ERROR’ - 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 a Spanish Earth observation satellite and a French research probe, Arianespace officials said Tuesday. Officials from Arianespace — the French company that manages Vega rocket launches — said Tuesday engineers reviewed telemetry data and documentation overnight, and found the most likely cause of the launch failure was a case of human error. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 18)
VEGA ANOMALY DURING LAUNCH OF EUROPEAN EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITES - Arianespace suffered another issue with its Vega rocket during the launch two Earth observation satellites named SEOSAT-Ingenio and TARANIS for Spain and France, respectively. Liftoff from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana, was on time at 01:52:20 UTC on Tuesday, 17 November — which is 20:52:20 EST on Monday, 16 November). Vega was aiming place the two satellites into sun-synchronous orbits at slightly different orbital inclinations and altitudes. The status of the mission remains unknown. More (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Nov 17)
SPACEX CREW DRAGON CAPSULE DOCKS AT SPACE STATION WITH ITS 1ST CREW OF 4 - SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule has successfully delivered a crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time. After a 27-hour orbital chase, the Crew-1 mission arrived at the space station Monday night (Nov. 16) with four Expedition 64 crewmembers — NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins and Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA. Also on board was a small "Baby Yoda" plush, which serves as a "zero-g indicator" during the ride. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 17)
SPACEX CREW DRAGON LAUNCHES 4 ASTRONAUTS TO SPACE STATION IN 1ST OPERATIONAL FLIGHT FOR NASA - SpaceX successfully launched its first operational space taxi flight for NASA Sunday (Nov. 15), as a shiny white Falcon 9 rocket took to the skies above Kennedy Space Center here in Florida. The rocket lifted off from NASA's historic Pad 39 here at 7:27 p.m. EDT (0027 GMT on Nov. 16) carrying four astronauts in a Crew Dragon capsule to orbit, and then returned to Earth for a drone-ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 16)
CHINA LAUNCHES MOBILE TELECOM SATELLITE - A new Chinese mobile communications satellite launched Thursday on top of a Long March 3B rocket, joining a similar spacecraft launched four years ago to provide voice and data services to users on the go. The Tiantong 1-02 mobile communications satellite lifted off at 1559 GMT (10:59 a.m. EST) Thursday from the Xichang satellite launch center in Sichuan province of southwestern China, according to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 15)
WEATHER DELAY MOVES SPACEX-NASA ASTRONAUT LAUNCH TO SUNDAY - Four astronauts are slated to ride into orbit aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule this weekend, kicking off what NASA hopes will be years of SpaceX conducting routine trips to keep the International Space Station fully staffed. Liftoff was originally slated for Saturday night, but NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said Friday afternoon that rough winds at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, the launch site, prompted SpaceX and NASA to push their target launch time to Sunday at 7:27 pm ET. More (Source: CNN - Nov 14)
ATLAS V ROCKET LAUNCHES NROL-101 SPY SATELLITE TO ORBIT - United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully sent an Atlas V rocket into space today (Nov. 13), following a series of delays due to hardware issues and poor weather conditions at the launch site. The 206-foot-tall (63 meters) rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 41 here at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 5:32 p.m. EST (2232 GMT), carrying with it a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which manages the U.S. government's fleet of spy satellites. More (Source: Space.com - Nov 14)
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SPACEX’S CREW-1 LAUNCH TO THE SPACE STATION - On the evening of November 14th, SpaceX plans to re-create the monumental feat it achieved earlier this year by launching another crew of astronauts to the International Space Station. This mission is a milestone for both SpaceX and NASA. It is the first “operational” crewed flight for the company and a step toward making American astronaut launches relatively routine. More (Source: The Verge - Nov 13)
ATLAS 5 ROCKET BACK ON THE LAUNCH PAD FOR NATIONAL SECURITY MISSION - A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket made its third trip to a Cape Canaveral launch pad Thursday, rolling into position for liftoff Friday afternoon with a classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The 206-foot-tall (63-meter) rocket made the 1,800-foot (550-meter) trip from ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad Thursday afternoon. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 13)
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