Rocket | Common News Update

Dec72018 by adminNo Comments

Watch live: Delta 4-Heavy rocket to launch spy satellite from California

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The eight-hour countdown for the latest United Launch Alliance's Delta 4-Heavy satellite launch is underway. The company's most powerful rocket is poised to carry a spy satellite into space, with liftoff at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base scheduled for 11:19 p.m. ET, 8:19 p.m. local time, on Friday. ULA will stream a live broadcast of the launch beginning at 11 p.m. ET. "The Delta IV Heavy rocket has been powered up for its launch," ULA confirmed on Friday afternoon. The satellite belongs to the National Reconnaissance Office, of the U.S. government's five major intelligence agencies. Friday's mission will be ULA's 132nd and the 71st for NRO. Per usual, little information about the payload for Friday evening's mission has been shared with the public. According to n...

Dec32018 by adminNo Comments

First manned Soyuz rocket since October accident takes off

Technology

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying astronauts bound for the International Space Station has taken off for the first time since a Soyuz rocket failed midair in October. American astronaut Anne McClain joined Canada’s David Saint-Jacques and Russia’s Oleg Kononenko aboard the rocket that launched from the Baikonur spaceport in the desert in central Kazakhstan on Monday. The launch had unusually high stakes following the accident in October, when a Soyuz suffered a malfunction around 2 minutes after take-off, forcing an American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut to eject about 30 miles above the earth’s surface. Following that accident, Russia’s space agency Roscomos suspended all manned Soyuz flights, cutting off the only way to get astronauts to the ISS. More tha...

Oct172018 by adminNo Comments

ULA launches military comms satellite on Atlas V rocket

Science

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- United Launch Alliance launched the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite into space for the U.S. Air Force a little after midnight on Wednesday morning. AEHF-4 launched atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 12:15 a.m. EDT. The rocket was rolled out to the launch pad Monday afternoon, preparing the 197-foot rocket for take-off. The Atlas V 551 variant was used for the launch, ULA said, which includes a kerosene-fueled common core booster and five solid rocket motors strapped on, as well as the Centaur upper stage and five-meter-diameter payload fairing. The first three AEHF satellites were launched in 2010, 2012 and 2013, with the system being declared at initial operational capability in 2015. The AEHF system is intended ...

Oct162018 by adminNo Comments

Watch live: ULA to launch military comms satellite on Atlas V rocket

Science

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- If weather permits, United Launch Alliance will launch the fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite into space for the U.S. Air Force a little after midnight. AEHF-4 is scheduled to launch atop an Atlas V rocket early Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window opens at 12:15 a.m. EDT, with ULA giving the launch an 80 percent chance of happening on schedule. The rocket was rolled out to the launch pad Monday afternoon, preparing the 197-foot rocket for take-off. The Atlas V 551 variant will be used for the launch, ULA said, which includes a kerosene-fueled common core booster and five solid rocket motors strapped on, as well as the Centaur upper stage and five-meter-diameter payload fairing. The first three AEHF satellit...

Oct112018 by adminNo Comments

Russia 'launches criminal investigation' into rocket failure

World

Russia has launched a criminal investigation over a failed rocket launch to the International Space Station, according to reports. A US and Russian astronaut were forced to make an emergency landing shortly after the mission got underway, with their Soyuz rocket having suffered significant engine failures.It was an unprecedented mishap for the Russian space programme and the AFP news agency claims a criminal investigation is now underway to determine whether safety regulations had been violated during construction. Image: Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin following emergency landing Image: NASA astronaut Nick Hague following emergency landing Despite the issue af...