VIRGIN GALACTIC WILL LAUNCH SATELLITES FROM A BOEING 747 - a Boeing 747 Published December 04, 2015 FoxNews.com Facebook84 Twitter0 livefyre24 Email Print (Virgin Galactic) (Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic has announced an ambitious plan to launch satellites from a Boeing 747. The former Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 jet, dubbed ‘Cosmic Girl,’ will provide a high-altitude launch platform for satellites via the company’s LauncherOne rocket. The rocket will be mounted under the aircraft’s left wing, adjacent to a position that was used by other 747s to ferry a fifth engine, according to Virgin Galactic. Related: Blue Origin makes historic reusable rocket landing in epic test flight “Air launch enables us to provide rapid, responsive service to our satellite customers on a schedule set by their business and operational needs, rather than the constraints of national launch ranges,” said Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides, in a statement released Thursday.    More
(Source: Fox News - Dec 5)

SECOND ATTEMPT TO LAUNCH CYGNUS TO THE SPACE STATION SCRUBBED BY WIND - After getting rained out yesterday, it’s time to start preparing for the next launch window for the Cygnus spacecraft. If it succeeds, this will be the first launch for the cargo tug since the previous one blew up in October 2014. UPDATE: Gusts of wind caused first delays and finally a scrub for the launch attempt today. The next attempt will be at 5:10pm ET on Saturday. See the bottom of article for more details. The return to flight mission for Orbital’s Enhanced Cygnus spacecraft is a cargo run to the International Space Station. The launch window begins at 5:33pm EST, and you can watch the launch preparations live here starting at 4:30pm ET.   More
(Source: io9 - Dec 5)

EUROPEAN PROBE BLASTS OFF ON GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DEMONSTRATION - A solid-fueled Vega launcher fired through a low cloud deck and sped into orbit from the South American jungle early Thursday with a pioneering European spacecraft that marks a key step in a century-long quest to detect elusive gravitational waves predicted to permeate the cosmos. Fastened on top of the 98-foot-tall (30-meter) Vega launcher was LISA Pathfinder, an experimental spacecraft that took 10 years to build and cost more than $630 million, a price divided between the European Space Agency, European governments and NASA.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 4)

WEATHER SATELLITE STARTUP WILL LAUNCH ON INDIAN ROCKET - A Colorado-based startup developing a satellite network to predict weather using radio signals will launch its first two spacecraft on an Indian rocket, the company said on Thursday. Privately owned PlanetiQ signed a contract with Antrix Corp Limited, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization, to launch the pair of satellites in late 2016. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. PlanetiQ plans to build and operate a constellation of 12 miniature satellites that monitor GPS and other navigational radio signals passing through Earth’s atmosphere. The signals change as they travel through different temperatures, pressures and levels of humidity, and the data can be incorporated into computer programs that predict local and regional weather and monitor changes in the global climate.    More
(Source: Reuters - Dec 4)

BAD WEATHER DELAYS US SPACE STATION SHIPMENT, 1ST IN MONTHS - Wet and cloudy weather prevented NASA from resuming commercial space station deliveries Thursday. The space agency was looking to get back on track with the first U.S. shipment to the International Space station in nearly eight months, but thick clouds and rain prevented an unmanned Atlas rocket from lifting off at dusk with 7,400 pounds of critical supplies. With 14 minutes left, and no better weather in sight, launch director Bill Cullen halted the countdown, praising his team for "great discipline." The next launch opportunity is Friday, but the forecast isn't much better. Two of the last four commercial supply runs, contracted by NASA, have failed. The first launch accident occurred in Virginia in October 2014, the second at Cape Canaveral in June. Add in a lost Russian cargo ship in April, and the cupboards in orbit have suffered.   More
(Source: ABC News - Dec 4)

RUSSIA FLIGHT TESTS ANTI-SATELLITE MISSILE - Russia carried out the first successful flight test of a new anti-satellite missile this month, marking a new phase in the global militarization of space. The flight test of Russia’s direct ascent anti-satellite missile, known as Nudol, took place Nov. 18, according to defense officials familiar with reports of the test. It was the first successful test in three attempts, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. With the successful anti-satellite missile test, Russia has joined China in arming its forces with strategic space warfare weapons.   More
(Source: Washington Free Beacon - Dec 3)

NASA SET TO LAUNCH SUPPLY SHIP TO SPACE STATION - NASA’s supply ships to the International Space Station are soon to fly again. From Our Advertisers Orbital ATK, one of two companies that NASA has hired to ferry cargo, is set to launch 7,700 pounds of equipment, experiments and supplies on Thursday. Orbital’s last cargo run, in October last year, ended in a fireball when the rocket exploded 15 seconds after liftoff. Investigators blamed the failure of one of two refurbished 1970s-era Soviet engines that powered Orbital’s Antares rocket. The launchpad at Wallops Island, Va., was badly damaged.   More
(Source: New York Times - Dec 3)

FRENCH ARIANESPACE TO LAUNCH AZERBAIJANI SECOND SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - French Arianespace company will launch the Azerbaijani second telecommunication satellite "Azerspace-2 / Intelsat 38" into orbit, Elmir Velizade, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Communications and High Technologies, said Dec.1 at a press-conference dedicated to the opening of the BakuTel-2015 exhibition. He said that Arianespace company has won Azercosmos’s tender to put the second telecommunication satellite into orbit. "The Azerbaijani first satellite was also put in orbit by Arianespace company,” he said. “We expect that Azercosmos will sign another contract with this company."   More
(Source: Trend News Agency - Dec 2)

LISA PATHFINDER LAUNCH GROUNDED TO ANALYZE VEGA UPPER STAGE - Launch managers in French Guiana have delayed liftoff of a European gravitational probe pathfinder at least one day to study the thermal extremes the upper stage of its Vega rocket booster will encounter on the flight, officials said Tuesday. The launch of the European Space Agency’s LISA Pathfinder was set for overnight Tuesday (early Wednesday, French Guiana time), but engineers elevated concerns about the readiness of the Vega rocket’s liquid-fueled fourth stage, which must ignite two times to deploy the 1,906-kilogram (4,202-pound) spacecraft into the correct orbit.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Dec 2)

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