News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
SpaceX sent a U.S. spy satellite to orbit today (Feb. 2) in the second of three planned launches over a four-day stretch. A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) NROL-87 payload lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California today at 3:27 p.m. EST (2027 GMT; 12:27 p.m. local … Read more
Two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets stand ready to launch different missions from their Florida launch pads. At right is a Falcon 9 carrying 49 Starlink internet satellites atop NASA’s Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. At left, a different Falcon 9 with the Italian Cosmo-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 satellite stands atop a pad at … Read more
SpaceX delayed two back-to-back rocket launches from Florida on Saturday (Jan. 29) due to bad weather that has already pushed back the missions in recent days. The private spaceflight company hoped to launch an Earth-observation satellite for Italy Saturday evening from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but unacceptable … Read more
SpaceX’s Starlink internet megaconstellation keeps growing. A two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with 49 Starlink satellites lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today (Jan. 18) at 9:02 p.m. EST (0203 GMT on Jan. 19). About nine minutes later, the rocket’s first stage came down to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown on … Read more
A new office in the Pentagon will investigate sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) — but longtime UFO enthusiasts are skeptical. According to NBC, putting the new “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena” program in the purview of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security has some UFOlogists upset, as they don’t exactly … Read more
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX successfully launched its second rocket of the year Thursday morning (Jan. 13) as one of its veteran boosters carried 105 small satellites into orbit before landing back on Earth. The two-stage Falcon 9 rocket lifted off into a clear blue sky at 10:25 a.m. EST (1525 GMT) from Space Launch … Read more
A year after its last launch, Russia’s newest rocket lifted off again — and things didn’t go entirely according to plan. The third test flight of the Angara A5 rocket took off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia on Monday (Dec. 27). The launcher reached low Earth orbit but was unable to go higher as … Read more
China launched the Ziyuan 1 (02E) Earth resources observation satellite and a small amateur radio satellite on Saturday, marking the country’s 53rd orbital launch of the year. The China National Space Administration mission’s Long March 4C rocket lifted off from Taiyuan, north China, at 10:11 p.m. Dec. 25 (0311 GMT, 11:11 a.m. local time Dec. … Read more
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket launched dozens of new internet satellites into orbit Monday (Dec. 27) to boost a growing megaconstellation by service provider OneWeb. The Russian-built Soyuz rocket launched 36 OneWeb satellites from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:10 a.m. EST (1310 GMT). The flight comes just two days after an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket … Read more
NASA just got a $10 billion space telescope for Christmas. An Ariane 5 rocket launched today (Dec. 25) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, at 7:20 a.m. EST (1220 GMT; 9:20 a.m. local time in Kourou), carrying the highly anticipated, long-delayed James Webb Space Telescope — and the hopes and dreams of countless astronomers, … Read more