Nutzlast / Mission
Wind
The main purpose of the Wind spacecraft is to measure the incoming solar wind, magnetic fields and particles, although early on it will also observe the Earth's foreshock region. Wind, together with Geotail, Polar, SOHO, and Cluster projects, constitute a cooperative scientific satellite project designated the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program which aims at gaining improved understanding of the physics of solar terrestrial relations.
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The mission will also test out a series of improvements to the launcher to help push it closer to full reusability. Liftoff from pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, is scheduled during a 90-minute window that opens at 5:45 p.m. CDT (6:45 p.m. EDT / 2245 UTC).
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has spotted a swathe of metallic-looking waves filling Mars’s large Kaiser Crater – an ancient and otherworldly dune field sculpted by wind.
Almost two years after an RFA ONE first stage burst into flames during a static fire test, German rocket builder Rocket Factory Augsburg is preparing for a second attempt at the rocket’s inaugural flight from SaxaVord Spaceport in Scotland. In a notice published on 7 July, SaxaVord announced that a five-week launch window would open […] The post RFA ONE Launch from SaxaVord Set for No Earlier Than 10 August appeared first on European Spaceflight.
SpaceX will launch a series of 81 payloads to a Sun-synchronous Earth orbit over a roughly 2.5-hour-long deployment period. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled during a 95-minute window that opens at 12:10 a.m. PDT (0310 EDT / 0710 UTC).
The European Space Agency has selected Airbus Defence and Space to start work on the successor to a wind-monitoring satellite. The post Airbus to build Aeolus-2 wind-monitoring satellite appeared first on SpaceNews.
Building on the remarkable success of the Earth Explorer Aeolus wind mission, the European Space Agency has given Airbus Defence and Space in the UK the authorisation to proceed to begin the development of Aeolus’ successor, Aeolus-2 – which is set to be built to enhance operational weather forecasts.
For more than 100 years, wind tunnels at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, have helped shape the future of flight. Now, two of NASA’s longest-serving facilities — the 12-Foot Low-Speed Tunnel and the 20-Foot Vertical Spin Tunnel — will pass the torch to the Flight Dynamics Research Facility (FDRF), the first major NASA wind tunnel built in more than 40 years. “The FDRF […]
The SXM-11 satellite was built by Intuitive Machines and is more than 230-feet-tall. Liftoff on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled during a window that opens at 10:25 p.m. EDT (0225 UTC).
The Falcon 9 rocket will launch an undisclosed number of satellites, which are believed to be Starshield satellites, a government variant of Starlink. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled during a 35-minute window that opens on Friday, June 19, at 1:40 a.m. PDT (4:40 a.m. EDT / 0840 UTC).
The Leo Europe 03 mission will see Arianespace send a batch of 36 Amazon Leo satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is scheduled during a window that opens up at 8:53 a.m. Kourou time (7:53 a.m. EDT / 1153 UTC).
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has captured part of Mars’s Mamers Valles: a fascinating valley system speckled with brief, tornado-like whirlwinds known as dust devils.
The Starlink 17-54 mission includes the 1,500th Starlink satellite launched so far in 2026. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled during a window that opens at 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT / 1400 UTC).