Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
NASA engineers have identified the technical cause behind the unexpected char loss on the Artemis I Orion spacecraft's heat shield during its return from the Moon. The issue arose from trapped gases within the ablative material of the heat shield, leading to pressure buildup and cracking. Orion's heat shield, made with Avcoat material, experienced uneven shedding of its charred outer layer

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has confirmed the launch window for its next Electron mission, which will deploy Synspective's latest Earth observation satellite. This mission is part of an ongoing collaboration aimed at expanding the Japanese company's synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation. The mission, named "Owl The Way Up," is set to launch from Rocket Lab Launch C

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully launched the Sentinel-1C satellite aboard the Vega-C rocket, signifying a major milestone for Europe's space ambitions. The Sentinel-1C mission, part of the Copernicus Earth observation program, took off from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana on December 4 at 22:20 CET (18:20 local time), achieving a flawless flight that placed the satellite int

Washington (AFP) Dec 5, 2024
The United States is pushing back its planned return to the Moon from 2026 to "mid-2027" as it deals with heat shield issues and other troubles plaguing its Orion crew capsule, NASA officials said Thursday. The announcement comes as President-elect Donald Trump is preparing to take office in January and could significantly reshape the direction of the US space agency. Artemis, named afte

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 5, 2024
NASA said Thursday it has pushed back the next two launches in its delay-plagued Artemis moon landing program after studying the causes of unexpected charring to the heat shield of Artemis I in 2022. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced the crewed Artemis II mission has been pushed back to April 2026 from a hoped-for September 2025 launch, while Artemis III - which is to land the f

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 5, 2024
SpaceX reached another milestone for the reusability of its first-stage boosters as it launched another round of Starlink satellites from California. The Wednesday night launch marked the 300th time SpaceX successfully returned the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket in the company's history, something unheard of before the space company came into existence. Starlink Mission 9-14 left th

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 5, 2024
The European Space Agency said that two spacecraft were launched from India on Thursday designed to form a single ship that will create an artificial solar eclipse while in orbit. Satellites on the Proba-3 rocket will fly in formation to within millimeters of each other as if they were one giant spacecraft, ESA said. The agency said 14 ESA member states came together in what they hope t

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 06, 2024
China launched a group of 18 communication satellites from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province on Thursday afternoon, deploying the third batch of space-based assets of the Spacesail Constellation in orbit. Developed by Shanghai-based satellite company Spacesail, the plate-shaped satellites were carried by a Long March 6A rocket that blasted off at 12:41 pm and soon arri

Kourou (AFP) Dec 5, 2024
Europe's new Vega-C rocket launched Thursday from French Guiana in its first takeoff since a failed flight two years ago, an AFP correspondent said. After days of delays, the rocket took off without problems, carrying the Sentinel-1C satellite for the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation programme. It is the first blastoff for the lightweight rocket since December 2022, when it

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The third Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite, Sentinel-1C, has launched aboard a Vega-C rocket, flight VV25, from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket lifted off on 5 December 2024 at 22:20 CET (18:20 local time).

Sentinel-1C extends the legacy of its predecessors, delivering high-resolution radar imagery to monitor Earth’s changing environment, supporting a diverse range of applications and advance scientific research. Additionally, Sentinel-1C introduces new capabilities for detecting and monitoring maritime traffic.

The launch also marks Vega-C’s ‘return to flight’, a key step in restoring Europe’s independent access to space. Vega-C is the evolution of the Vega family of rockets and delivers increased performance, greater payload volume and improved competitiveness.