Category: Launches
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Progress 64P launches
In the first of two International Space Station Cargo launches this weekend the Russian Progress 64P was successfully delivered to orbit today by it’s Soyuz booster. Following a smooth countdown the Soyuz rocket lifted off at 5:41pm EDT. This is the third flight of the MS version of the Progress Cargo vehicle and will be…
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SpaceX continues 2016 launch campaign
SpaceX continued it’s 2016 campaign with the successful launch of the Thaicom 8 satellite this evening. Originally scheduled for yesterday 5/26 the launch was postponed to allow more time to investigate an issue found during the countdown. @SpaceX There was a tiny glitch in the motion of an upper stage engine actuator. Probably not a…
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SpaceX CRS-8 launches successfully – First Stage Lands
Ten months after the failed CRS-7 launch SpaceX resumed their servicing missions to the International Space Station today with the successful launch of their Dragon spacecraft. Following a smooth countdown the Falcon 9 lifted off at 4:43 pm EDT to begin a 10 minute climb to orbit. As with previous launches SpaceX also attempted to…
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Progress MS-02 launches to ISS
The Russian Progress MS-02 spacecraft launched successfully today beginning a two day journey to dock with the International Space Station. Roscosmos elected to do the two day journey to allow time to fully test all the upgraded systems on the newer MS version of the vehicle. The first Soyuz MS crewed mission is due to launch…
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ULA launches Cygnus OA-6 to ISS
Last night United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched an Orbital ATK Cygnus spacecraft towards the International Space Station (ISS). This is the second Cygnus that has launched on an Atlas V rocket and will be the heaviest payload the Atlas V has ever launched. Even with the heavier payload ULA didn’t require any Solid Rocket Boosters as…
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SpaceX launches SES-9
SpaceX continued it’s 2016 launch campaign today with the successful delivery of the SES-9 satellite to orbit. This was the third successful launch since the June 2015 failure and the second launch of the Falcon 9 Full Thrust version of the rocket. SpaceX attempted the launch several times but had to scrub due to several reasons…
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SpaceX achieve another important milestone
While driving to work this morning I heard how SpaceX suffered another setback yesterday due to the destruction of the first stage after it landed. It seems to me that people are focusing on the wrong thing here, yes the end result of the EXPERIMENTAL LANDING was a failure because they were not able to…
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SpaceX returns to flight and sticks the landing
SpaceX returned to flight operations yesterday after an almost six month break following the June CRS-7 accident. During that time SpaceX took the opportunity to upgrade the rocket the changes which included denser liquid oxygen, longer second stage allowed them to provide more thrust (approx 30%) while also keep enough fuel to attempt a landing back…
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First British Astronaut arrives at the #ISS
European Space Agency Astronaut Tim Peake of the UK arrived at the International Space Station today following a smooth launch and four orbit accelerated rendezvous. Tim and fellow travelers NASA’s Tim Kopra and RSA’s Yuri Malenchenko lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:03 AM EST today and once in orbit begun there four orbit, six hour…
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SpaceX moves a step closer to Return To Flight
SpaceX has completed the first static fire test of their enhanced Falcon 9 rocket as they move closer to return to flight. The upgraded rocket (name not yet known) uses Full Thrust Merlin 1D engines, previous flights the engines had only been run at 85% thrust. This upgrade which was already in the works before…