Washington DC (UPI) Jan 01, 2022
Astra Space, one of few new rocket companies to reach orbit, is facing stiff criticism from skeptics about its business model as it plans its first launch from Florida.. The California-based company announced Dec. 6 that it planned to launch NASA satellites in January from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Since then, the company has released no further details about a launch date and ha

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 01, 2022
The Biden administration has extended operations on theInternational Space Station through 2030 to "enable a seamless transition" to commercial space stations, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced Friday. Nelson said in a statement that NASA will continue working with the European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Canadian Space Agency, and Russia's StateSpace Corporati

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 01, 2022
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has teamed up with the U.S. military to explore the possibility of using rockets to transport cargo and people, U.S. Transportation Command announced Monday. The Amazon founder's Blue Origin rocket company and USTRANSCOM, which oversees global military logistics, signed the cooperative research and development agreement, CRADA, on Dec. 17, according to the announcem

Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 01, 2022
The businessman revitalised the space company using his own funds back in 2017, when it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Since then, the firm secured its first contracts with the US government and held a partially successful first launch of a satellite. The US government demanded Ukrainian software mogul Max Polyakov to sell his entire stake in the space company Firefly Aerospace, which man

Over about the next two weeks, NASA will provide broadcast coverage, media briefings, and other updates on major deployment milestones for the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope.

Over about the next two weeks, NASA will provide broadcast coverage, a media briefing, and other updates on major deployment milestones for the James Webb Space Telescope, the world’s largest and most powerful space science telescope.

Video: 00:03:04

This real-time video shows the separation of the James Webb Space Telescope from the Ariane 5 launch vehicle and the subsequent solar array deployment.

Webb’s launch on an ESA-provided Ariane 5 rocket was performed by Arianespace on behalf of ESA from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, at 12:20:07 GMT (13:20:07 CET) on 25 December 2021.

Webb separation from the Ariane 5 occurred at 12:47:14 GMT (13:47:14 CET) with solar array deployment starting 69 seconds later.

Thanks to Ariane 5’s highly precise launch trajectory Webb’s solar array was able to deploy soon after separation from the Ariane 5, capturing sunlight to

Moscow (AFP) Dec 24, 2021
President Vladimir Putin said Friday the Russian military successfully fired a simultaneous salvo of its Zircon hypersonic missiles, calling it "a big event" for the country. As world powers race to develop advanced weaponry, Russia has carried out a number of successful tests of its Zircon hypersonic cruise missile. This was however the first time that Russian authorities reported a su

Beijing (XNA) Dec 30, 2021
China launched the Tianhui 4 satellite into space on Wednesday evening from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. The State-owned space contractor said the satellite was deployed by a Long March 2D carrier rocket that blasted off at 7:13 pm and has entered orbit. Tianhui 4, built by the compa