Satellite News

Kazakhstan has invited Russia to sign an…Read more

NASA and its international partners are targeting 1 March as the launch date for the next cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).

NASA has selected Aerojet of Sacramento, California, for a US$23.3 million contract to develop engineering demonstrations and risk reduction concepts for future advanced boosters for the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS).

The planned first stage propulsion system “hot fire” test of Orbital’s new Antares medium-class rocket on 13 February was halted in the final seconds of the countdown by the rocket’s flight computer, which detected an anomalous condition.

NASA’s progress toward a return to deep space missions continues with a new round of upcoming tests on the next-generation J-2X rocket engine, which will help power the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS).

Rocket: Atlas V; Payload: Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) / Landsat 8; Date: 11 February 2013, 1802 UTC; Launch site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The LDCM spacecraft separated from the rocket 79 minutes after launch and the first signal was received 3 minutes later at a ground station in Svalbard, Norway.

Rocket: Soyuz-U; Payload: Progress M-18M [Progress 50P]; Date: 11 February 2013, 1441 UTC; Launch site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The cargo vessel docked to the International Space Station on 2040 UTC.

Following Ariane Flight VA212, both satellites are reported healthy.