PROGRESS RESUPPLY CRAFT LIFTS OFF FROM KAZAKHSTAN, HEADS FOR SPACE STATION - A Russian Progress freighter loaded with nearly three tons of supplies, water and fuel lifted off on top of a Soyuz rocket Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on a two-day trek to the International Space Station, clearing the way for the next Soyuz launch Dec. 3 with the next station-bound crew. Liftoff from Launch Pad No. 1 at Baikonur, the same departure point used by Yuri Gagarin on the first human space mission in 1961, occurred at 1814:08 GMT (1:14:08 p.m. EST) Friday as the space station sailed around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above southern Kazakhstan. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 18)
NOAA’S GOES-17 SATELLITE REACHES FINAL LOCATION, SENDS BACK AWESOME IMAGES - In order to make accurate weather predictions, NOAA needs weather satellites in orbit to peer down at Earth. Until recently, the agency was making do with very old hardware from the 1990s, but it has since started launching the much improved GOES-R satellites. GOES-17 launched in March of this year, and it sent back a few images shortly after that. Now, it’s finally reached its final destination over the Pacific Ocean, and it’s beaming back some stunning images and lots of atmospheric data. GOES-17 reached orbit with the help of a ULA Atlas-V rocket. After launch, the satellite was at an altitude of 22,300 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers), but it was looking down on central and South America. More (Source: ExtremeTech - Nov 17)
WATCH SPACEX LAUNCH A SATELLITE EVEN AMATEURS CAN USE - The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set for Thursday at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket will carry a payload designed to take amateur radio to new heights. Elon Musk's space company will reportedly launch the reusable "Block 5" booster that was used in July's Telstar 19V mission. This time around, however, it will carry Qatar's Es'hail-2 satellite to geostationary orbit. Es'hail-2 was designed and built by Mitsubishi Electric in Japan to "boost broadband delivery, broadcasting and global connectivity in Qatar, the entire region and beyond," according to the Qatar Satellite Company. More (Source: CNET - Nov 16)
SPACEX LAUNCHES QATARI COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE - SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket powered by a previously flown first stage Thursday, lifting Qatar's Es'hail 2 communications satellite into orbit in the California rocket-builder's 18th launch so far this year. In an increasingly routine feat, the booster's first stage fell away and flew itself back to a pinpoint touchdown on an off-shore drone ship, the company's 31st successful recovery. The stage first flew last July when it helped boost a Telstar communications satellite into orbit. The booster is one of six "block 5" stages launched so far by SpaceX featuring a variety of upgrades to improve performance and enable multiple flights. More (Source: CBS News - Nov 15)
BAD WEATHER FORCES NASA, NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO DELAY CARGO LAUNCH TO SPACE STATION - The launch of a Northrop Grumman rocket carrying NASA's next cargo flight to the International Space Station has been delayed at least one day to Friday (Nov. 15) due to bad weather expected to pummel the mission's seaside launch site in Virginia. A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket was scheduled to launch an uncrewed Cygnus cargo ship early Thursday, but forecasts predicted a 90-percent chance that bad weather would prevent the flight, NASA officials said today (Nov. 14). The launch is now scheduled for early Friday at 4:23 a.m. EST (0923 GMT). More (Source: Space.com - Nov 15)
INDIA’S GSLV MK.3 ACES TEST LAUNCH, CLEARING WAY FOR LUNAR MISSION - The second orbital test flight of India’s GSLV Mk.3 launcher took off Wednesday, hoisting a high-throughput communications satellite into orbit to connect the county’s remote population and clearing the way for a robotic lunar lander to use the rocket in January. Boosted by two powerful strap-on solid rocket motors, the nearly 143-foot-tall (43.5-meter) Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mk.3 (GSLV Mk.3) lifted off from the Second Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s east coast at 1138 GMT (6:38 a.m. EST) Wednesday. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 14)
NASA ISS ROCKET LAUNCH WILL ‘LIGHT UP THE SKY’ ACROSS THE EAST COAST ON THURSDAY - If you’re up (very) early on Thursday and you live on the East Coast, you may catch a glimpse of an impressive sight soaring through the sky. On November 15, at 4:49 a.m. EST, NASA will launch an Antares rocket from its Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) located at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) on Wallops Island, along Virginia's eastern shore. Designed by aerospace and defense manufacturer Northup Grumman, the rocket will carry one of the company’s Cygnus spacecraft, which was designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station following the retirement of the Space Shuttle. More (Source: Newsweek - Nov 14)
ANTARES ROCKET TRANSFERRED TO VIRGINIA LAUNCH PAD FOR STATION RESUPPLY FLIGHT - A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket rolled out of its hangar Monday night, riding a self-propelled transporter for a mile-long trip to launch pad 0A on Wallops Island, Virginia, for a predawn liftoff Thursday with a Cygnus supply ship heading for the International Space Station. But rainy weather and clouds at the launch base on Virginia’s Eastern Shore could prevent a launch Thursday, with forecasters predicting a 70 percent probability of conditions violating the Antares rocket’s launch criteria. More (Source: SpaceFlight Now - Nov 14)
NASA PREPARING FOR LAUNCH OF UKRAINIAN PRODUCED ANTARES ROCKET TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - The next launch of the Antares middle-class launch vehicle produced in in Ukraine under the NASA contract for the provision of commercial supply services (CRS) to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for Nov. 15. The NASA Wallops Flight Facility and Virginia’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport are set to support the launch of the Antares rocket, carrying the company’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station at 4:49 a.m. EST. More (Source: Kyiv Post - Nov 13)
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