Free Republic

Rocket: Zenit 3SL Payload: Eutelsat 3B Date: May 26, 2014 Time: 2110 GMT (2:10 p.m. PDT/5:10 p.m. EDT) Window: 54 minutes Site: Odyssey launch platform, Equator, 154º west, Pacific Ocean With its mobile command ship and launch platform positioned in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, Sea Launch is counting down to its first mission since February 2013 on Monday with a European communications satellite. Liftoff is set for 2110 GMT (2:10 p.m./5:10 p.m. EDT). 1710 GMT (1:10 p.m. EDT) T-minus 4 hours. Sea Launch reports the weather outlook is favorable for today's blastoff from the equator at 2110 GMT (5:10 p.m....

Their services have permeated daily lives for countless millions of people, and now the latest Global Positioning System satellite is awaiting blastoff to bolster the navigation network. A second launch attempt for the United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket is set for 8:03 p.m. EDT Friday (0003 Saturday) after weather forced a scrub of Thursday evening's countdown. Rocket: Delta 4 Variant: Medium+ 4,2 Payload: GPS 2F-6 Date: May 16, 2014 Window: 8:03-8:22 p.m. EDT Site: SLC-37, Cape Canaveral, Florida

Watch Elon Musk's Reusable Rocket Launch And Land Itself In This Amazing Video Shot By A Drone Jillian D'Onfro April 18, 2014, 2:27 PM Elon Musk's private space company, SpaceX, has been experimenting with reusable rockets since last year. Because the cost of fuel is much less compared to the cost of building a rocket from scratch every time, Musk and his team are trying to master reusable rockets so they can get closer to their goal of making commercial space travel more affordable. The company just posted an amazing video on YouTube of its Falcon 9 Reusable rocket lifting...

It's an audacious plan, the odds of success are low, but SpaceX is going to do it anyway: The private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk will launch a rocket with landing legs into orbit today, then try to bring part of it back and park it in the ocean. The chances of success? Maybe between 30 and 40 percent, said SpaceX vice president of mission assurance Hans Koenigsmann. "If we can pull this off … we'll be super-thrilled," Koenigsmann told reporters yesterday (April 13). You can watch the SpaceX's Dragon launch live on Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV....

NASA managers Sunday cleared SpaceX to press ahead with launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo ship Monday on a two-day flight to the International Space Station, concluding the lab can be safely operated until a faulty computer can be replaced during a contingency spacewalk next week. With forecasters predicting an 80 percent chance of acceptable weather, the SpaceX Falcon 9 version 1.1 rocket is scheduled for blastoff from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 4:58 p.m. EDT (GMT-4). If all goes well, the company's uncrewed Dragon cargo capsule will reach the space...

(Reuters) - The Israeli navy seized a ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria and intended for Palestinian guerrillas in the Gaza Strip, the military said. The disclosure came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States to press his case for tougher international action against Iran over its disputed nuclear program and support for Islamist guerrilla groups. The Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel Klos C was boarded in international waters without resistance from its 17-strong crew in a "complex, covert operation", military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner told...

It is set to become the largest rocket ever built, dwarfing the rockets that took man to the moon and paving the way for manned missions to Mars. Nasa today reveal stunning new pictures of its SLS (Space Launch System), which will eventually be capable of lifting 130 tonnes into orbit. The rocket will be used to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, and to help us explore the outer reaches of the solar system. It is even hoped the craft could play a role in manned missions to Mars, being able to launch 'stepping stone' bases into orbit.

It is set to become the largest rocket ever built, dwarfing the rockets that took man to the moon and paving the way for manned missions to Mars. Nasa today reveal stunning new pictures of its SLS (Space Launch System), which will eventually be capable of lifting 130 tonnes into orbit. The rocket will be used to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station, and to help us explore the outer reaches of the solar system. It is even hoped the craft could play a role in manned missions to Mars, being able to launch 'stepping stone' bases into orbit....

Sriharikota: The Indian Space Research Organisation or ISRO achieved another milestone today as it successfully launched the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle or GSLV-D5 from the space port at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. The advanced GSAT-14 communications satellite that GSLV-D5 is carrying has also been separated from the rocket and placed into orbit. The Rs. 350-crore mission marks India's entry into the multi-billion dollar commercial launcher market on a fully indigenous large rocket. An India-made cryogenic engine powers the GSLV-D5, which stands almost 50 meters tall (as high as a 17-storey building) and weighs a whopping 415 tons (as much 80...

An upgraded ballistic rocket was reportedly launched Tuesday from the Gaza Strip into the Mediterranean sea, presumably to test the weapon’s capabilities and range. The test caused loud explosion sounds that were audible in Israeli towns and cities adjacent to the Gaza border, Channel 2 reported. The rocket was an improved version of the M-75 missile with a slightly longer range and a larger warhead, the report said. Other Israeli news outlets, citing the army, attributed the explosion sounds to ultrasonic booms caused by Israeli jets that were participating in a drill.

A top secret surveillance satellite and 12 tiny co-passengers are ready for launch from California's hilly coastline late Thursday aboard an Atlas 5 rocket. The United Launch Alliance booster is set for liftoff at 11:13 p.m. PST (0713 GMT; 2:13 a.m. EST Friday) from Space Launch Complex 3-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

After cleaning and replacing engine components, SpaceX is gearing up for another try to launch a Falcon 9 rocket Monday on a crucial mission to deliver the SES 8 commercial television broadcasting satellite to orbit. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 5:41 p.m. EST/2:41 p.m. PST (2241 GMT), the opening of an 86-minute launch window.

China will tomorrow become the first country in almost 40 years to soft-land a probe on the moon, in a huge step forward for its ambitious space programme. The nation will become the third in history to launch a lunar probe when the device, named 'Jade Rabbit' after a Chinese folklore character, launches at 5.30pm on Sunday evening, which is 1.30am local time. The mission forms part of a plan in which China hopes to build a permanent lunar base in order to launch future missions to Mars within the next 15 years.

Technicians are in the final stages of readying a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch Monday on its first mission to geostationary transfer orbit with a commercial communications satellite for television broadcasters in India and Southeast Asia. Rocket: Falcon 9 v1.1 Payload: SES 8 Launch date: November 25, 2013 Launch time: 5:37 p.m. EST/2:37 p.m. PST (2237 GMT) Launch window: 66 minutes Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida

We all have stories, as engineers, of fixing some crazy thing at the last minute right before the demo goes up. We have all encountered situations where we needed to fix something that was our fault and we needed to fix it now. This story is something that I think about in those times to remember to stay calm. No last minute fix could ever be this dramatic or important. My grandfather passed away about a week ago. At the service, I was asked to say a few words and read from his memoirs. This was my choice. RED TEAM...

UC San Diego students complete successful test of 3D-printed engine Students from the San Diego chapter of the University of California test-fire a new 3D-printed engine, making UC San Diego the very first university to “additively manufacture” a rocket engine. The engine was printed by GPI Prototype and Manufacturing Services with help from the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. The engine’s fabrication, from conception to its final test on October 5th, took around 8 months to complete. Already a recipient of the Student Prize award for DIYRockets, Inc’s competition, the engine’s hot-fire test was highly successful and no doubt means...

Rocket: Antares Payload: Cygnus Launch date: September 18, 2013 Launch time: 10:50 a.m. EDT/7:50 a.m. PDT (1450 GMT) Launch window: 15 minutes Launch site: Pad 0A, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Islands, VA ISS capture: Sept 22 @ 1117 GMT ISS departure: TBD 0745 GMT (3:45 a.m. EDT) The countdown began on time to begin final preps for this morning's 10:50 a.m. EDT blastoff of the 13-story Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Follow activities with this countdowntimeline. The mission will be the second launch of the Orbital Sciences Antares rocket after a...

Rocket: Minotaur 5 Payload: LADEE Launch date: September 6, 2013 Launch time: 11:27 p.m. EDT (0327 GMT on 7th) Site: Launch Pad 0B, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport City/State: Wallops Island, Va. SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013 UPDATE Technicians lifted a NASA moon probe on top of a Minotaur rocket on Saturday, crowning an eight-story, five-stage booster set for an historic liftoff from Virginia on Sept. 6. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, a $280 million mission to measure the dynamics of the moon's tenuous atmosphere, was hoisted atop the Minotaur launcher on pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's...

Propellants offer satellites greater efficiency and lower toxicity than liquid hydrazine. It looks like chardonnay, smells like glass cleaner and packs enough punch to shift a satellite. It is a Swedish-made ‘green propellant’, one that is fast becoming a viable fuel for manoeuvring craft in orbit. Along with a US-made propellant, it is providing an attractive alternative to hydrazine, the toxic chemical that has dominated this corner of the space industry for decades. The Swedish propellant is currently nudging a satellite around in space, and may be used in a constellation of small commercial Earth-imaging satellites. The US-made fuel will...

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA Payload: Eutelsat 25B & GSAT 7 Launch date: August 29, 2013 Launch window: 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT) Site: ELA-3, Guiana Space Center, Kourou French Guiana Watch the launch at these links. www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va215/status.html or http://arianespace.tv/