Earthobservation

Rocket Lab launches Earth-observation satellite in 1st mission from new pad

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Pad B’s debut mission went off without a hitch. Rocket Lab lofted a private Earth-observation satellite today (Feb. 28) from the newly finished second pad at its Launch Complex 1, on New Zealand’s North Island.  An Electron rocket topped with Strix-β, which will be operated by the Japanese company Synspective, lifted off from Pad B … Read more

SpaceX launching Italian Earth-observation satellite Thursday: Watch live

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SpaceX will launch an Italian Earth-observation satellite to orbit Thursday (Jan. 27), and you can watch it live. A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with the Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 (CSG-2) satellite is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT). The rocket’s first … Read more

Powerful European Earth-observation satellite suffers anomaly in orbit

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One of humanity’s most powerful Earth-observing satellites is having some problems in orbit. The Sentinel-1B radar satellite, part of the European Union’s Copernicus Earth observation program, hasn’t beamed home any data since suffering an anomaly on Dec. 23. And the problem appears to be relatively serious. “Following the previous news on the Sentinel-1B anomaly that … Read more