Satellite News

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA; Payload: Herschel, Planck; Date: 14 April 2009, 1312 UTC; Site: Kourou, French Guiana. Almost 26 minutes later, and about two minutes from each other, the two science satellites were released separately on an escape trajectory toward L2, some 1.5 million kilometres from Earth in the opposite direction to the Sun.

Arianespace’s milestone Ariane 5 flight with two passengers destined for the exploration of deep space has been cleared for its lift-off on 14 May following today’s launch readiness review.
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Space shuttle Atlantis with its seven-member crew launched at 1801 UTC today from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission.

The heavy-lift Ariane 5 for Arianespace’s upcoming space exploration mission is now complete following the installation of its payload fairing over the dual passengers of Europe’s Herschel space telescope and the Planck observatory.

The GOES-O launch aboard a Delta IV rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 is further delayed currently is scheduled for no earlier than 26 June.

NASA has again scrubbed the launch of TacSat-3 aboard a Minotaur I rocket from Wallops Flight Facility.

The metallic piece found in the village of Baranovka, Siberia, after the last Soyuz rocket launch is a part of the second stage of the vehicle, a member of the committee investigating the incident confirmed.

Rocket: Soyuz U; Payload: Progress M-02M (Progress P33); Date: 7 May 2009, 1837 UTC; Site: Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Less than nine minutes later, the cargo vessel reached its preliminary orbit and deployed its solar arrays and navigational antennas.