Viasat seeks replacement for Ariane 6 for launch of third ViaSat 3 satellite

A full-scale test model of an Ariane 6 rocket stands on its launch pad in French Guiana last year. Credit: ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch of an identical spacecraft off of Europe’s long-delayed Ariane 6 rocket, and is considering bids from other rocket companies. The decision means the launch contract is up for grabs for the third ViaSat...

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Live coverage: SpaceX countdown down to Sunday evening Falcon Heavy launch

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the ViaSat 3 Americas broadband satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. SFN Live from Spaceflight Now https://ift.tt/svY78wE via World Space In...

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Comment on FAA Starship Investigation May Take Months by Jeff Wrigh

Here is an idea Jim. Elon could make nice with MSFC, call Alabama’s Governor Ivy, and use our state’s surplus to launch from Marshall’s Stennis battleship test stands on the coast from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/FYq41bN via World Space In...

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Watch live: SpaceX attempting two Friday evening launches from Cape Canaveral

Watch a replay of our live coverage of the countdown and launch two SpaceX rockets — a Falcon 9 and a Falcon Heavy — less than two hours apart on Friday, April 28. Follow us on Twitter.  Weather permitting, SpaceX will go for a launch doubleheader Friday with two missions set for liftoff from Florida’s Space Coast less than two hours apart. A Falcon 9 rocket will launch a pair of O3b internet satellites for SES from Cape Canaveral Space...

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NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has now flown more than 50 times

NASA’s Perseverance rover glimpsed the Ingenuity helicopter earlier this month after the rotorcraft’s 50th flight. This view shows dust accumulation on the vehicle. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to outperform its design specifications, having now notched up more than 50 record-breaking forays across the Red Planet’s surface, 10 times as many flights as originally planned for. Ingenuity’s historic...

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Watch live: First Arab spacewalker heads outside International Space Station

 Veteran NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi suited up and floated outside the International Space Station Friday for a spacewalk to prepare the outpost for new solar arrays and retrieve a disabled S-band antenna for eventual return to Earth. Alneyadi became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk. The astronauts switched their NASA spacesuits to internal battery power at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1511 UTC) to mark...

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Comment on SpaceX Flies April’s Third Vandenberg Mission, Watches Falcon Heavy Weather by Will Mother Nature Smile or Frown on Friday’s Record-Breaking Pair of Space Coast Launches? - AmericaSpace

[…] with particularly strong storms anticipated offshore tonight. A triple-barreled Falcon Heavy—already scrubbed two days in a row, thanks to continuing poor weather—is now set to rise from historic Pad 39A at Florida’s […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/Fs9etAh via World Space In...

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Will Mother Nature Smile or Frown on Friday’s Record-Breaking Pair of Space Coast Launches?

After Thursday's scrubbed launch attempt of #FalconHeavy, a game of musical chairs (and possibly a new launch-to-launch record) are on tap for Friday. All eyes, however, are on Mother Nature. The post Will Mother Nature Smile or Frown on Friday’s Record-Breaking Pair of Space Coast Launches? first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/VxyGs64 via World Space In...

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Comment on FAA Starship Investigation May Take Months by Расследование взрыва ракеты Starship может занять несколько месяцев - GT новости

[…] КИЕВ. 27 апреля. УНН. Взрыв ракетоносителя Starship во время летных испытаний был прогнозируемым, но степень разрушения стартовой площадки и ущерб окружающей среде значительно превысила предварительные оценки. Это станет основой для расследования Федерального управления гражданской авиации, которое может занять несколько месяцев, пишет УНН со ссылкой на AmericaSpace. […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/97YdihP via World Space In...

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Comment on SpaceX Launches From Vandenberg, Pushes Starlink Count North of 4,000 by SpaceX Flies April’s Third Vandenberg Mission, Watches Falcon Heavy Weather - AmericaSpace

[…] early Thursday. The veteran B1061 core—which previously flew 12 times between November 2020 and last month—was seemingly stricken with cruel luck yesterday as she aimed for her 13th launch and 2023’s […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/f1Tgkal via World Space In...

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SpaceX Flies April’s Third Vandenberg Mission, Watches Falcon Heavy Weather

@SpaceX has launched a record-setting 3rd Falcon 9 of the month out of Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., as weather trends marginally upward for tonight's Falcon Heavy launch from the East Coast. The post SpaceX Flies April’s Third Vandenberg Mission, Watches Falcon Heavy Weather first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/Jk73NW8 via World Space In...

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Comment on “You Wouldn’t Believe Me”: Remembering Columbia’s Mission for Germany, 30 Years On by Ulrich Walter

Dear Ben, this is Ulrich, one of the two German astronauts on STS-55. Thanks for giving this excellent throwback. The crew had a beautiful 25th anniversary tour in May 2018 through Germany, unfortunately without Steve who passed away earlier. We still meet yearly on ASE conferences, this year in Bursa/ Turkey. Best Ulrich Walter STS- 55 Payload Specialist from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/WFUQt6w via World Space In...

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Comment on FAA Starship Investigation May Take Months by Investigating the FAA spacecraft could take months

[…] Source […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/Srxf8b3 via World Space In...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by FAA Starship Investigation May Take Months - AmericaSpace

[…] You can read in-depth on some of the questions following the launch in our report HERE. […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/WB9n3Oa via World Space In...

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Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to Starlink launch from California

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on the Starlink 3-5 mission with 46 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX Webcast SpaceX Mission Audio from Spaceflight Now https://ift.tt/ALxstdI via World Space In...

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“You Wouldn’t Believe Me”: Remembering Columbia’s Mission for Germany, 30 Years On

OTD in 1993, shuttle Columbia launched on a science mission for Germany. And STS-55's Jerry Ross got more than he bargained for when he reached space. The post “You Wouldn’t Believe Me”: Remembering Columbia’s Mission for Germany, 30 Years On first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/YXgyGQc via World Space In...

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Comment on “Major Malfunction”: Remembering Challenger’s Last Launch, OTD in 1986 by “You Wouldn’t Believe Me”: Remembering Columbia’s Mission for Germany, 30 Years On - AmericaSpace

[…] earlier mission, Spacelab-D1, had flown in the fall of 1985, only a few months before the Challenger disaster, although in the era prior to reunification it was sponsored principally by West Germany. Yet these […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/fAIbp9X via World Space In...

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Falcon Heavy rocket rolls back to launch pad after engine swap

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket for the ViaSat 3 Americas mission inside the hangar at Launch Complex 39A. The three Falcon Heavy boosters will be powered by 27 kerosene-fueled Merlin engines. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX rolled a Falcon Heavy rocket back to its launch pad in Florida Tuesday night for liftoff Wednesday with a high-power Viasat broadband satellite, following an eight-day delay for a launch vehicle engine swap. The Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled...

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Japanese company says commercial spacecraft crashed on moon landing attempt

Executives from ispace (lower left) watch animation of the Hakuto-R landing sequence Tuesday in Tokyo. Credit: ispace A small spacecraft attempting to become the first privately-funded probe to accomplish a controlled landing on the moon likely fell to the lunar surface after running out of fuel Tuesday, according to the Japanese company ispace, which managed the mission. The Japanese company lost communication with the Hakuto-R lander moments...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by Jim(akaJim Hillhouse)

In reply to Freeze. I missed how a company that we thought knew how to successfully launch rockets showed that it still has much to learn. Like, you know, how to build a launchpad properly, how to code-up a booster G&C so that it terminates itself when it goes off-nominal, or abort code to, you know, abort when the booster isn’t working properly. from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/xmUMYch via World Space In...

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Emirati orbiter captures up-close view of Martian moon Deimos

The Martian moon Deimos, with the Red Planet in the background, was captured in imagery by the UAE’s Hope orbiter March 10. Credit: Emirates Mars Mission / MBRSC The United Arab Emirates’ Hope probe has seen the far side of the Martian moon Deimos up close for the first time, collecting compositional data suggesting it may have formed from material that broke off of Mars long ago, and not from a captured asteroid. The Hope probe, known as Al Amal...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by Phil

In reply to Freeze. TIL the Space Shuttle never got astronauts to the ISS from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/jbartS0 via World Space In...

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Japanese company aims to become first company to land on the moon Tuesday

The Hakuto-R lunar lander captured this view of Earthrise from an altitude of about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface. Credit: ispace The Japanese company ispace could become the first commercial firm to achieve a controlled landing on the moon Tuesday, when its privately-funded unpiloted Hakuto-R lander attempts to touch down inside a crater to deliver a small Emirati rover and other research payloads to the lunar surface. The...

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India’s PSLV launches with two Singaporean satellites

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on Saturday. Credit: ISRO An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off Saturday and flew to an altitude of more than 360 miles (580 kilometers) to deploy two Singaporean satellites, one for all-weather radar imaging surveillance and another for technology demonstrations. The PSLV took off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India’s east coast at 4:49...

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Three Missions, Three Pads, Two Coasts: SpaceX Ready for Busy Month-End Launch Week

After last week's partial success of 1st Starship, @SpaceX is set to close out April with a 3-flight #LaunchWeek from both coasts of the United States. But the watch word remains: Weather. The post Three Missions, Three Pads, Two Coasts: SpaceX Ready for Busy Month-End Launch Week first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/Ijhx7Tm via World Space In...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by CommonSense

In reply to Torbjörn Larsson. Gotta love the high and mighty folks….you will take your imagined high road so your ego can bolster your imagined moral superiority, but not before running your mouth for 20 minutes. As I said before….either climb out from under Elon Musk’s desk, wipe the cum off your mouth, and find something useful to do or stay under there and be ignorant. from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/l4BHY9e via World Space In...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by Torbjörn Larsson

In reply to Jim. A bet on what!? [And no, I don’t bet.] Those were evidence based claims, and I see no argument issued against them. I assume the response wasn’t intended as trolling, but it comes close. from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/KS73CBX via World Space In...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by Jim Hillhouse

In reply to Robert. I work for myself. I have never accepted anything more than a gimme cap from NASA or any company, aerospace or otherwise. List for all of us here the rockets launched on US soils that have done multiple loop de loops during ascent in the last 50 years. from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/jTm2dLf via World Space In...

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Comment on Starship Orbital Test Flight Raises Serious Questions by Nolan Bamber

In reply to Jim. Challenger not Columbia get it right. from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/5r0ThJ9 via World Space In...

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