The International Space Station constantly requires resupply, whether it be provisions for the astronauts, scientific experiments they must conduct, or spare parts to repair faulty elements of this gigantic laboratory. In less than two weeks, the station received two new cargo shipments, totaling no less than 5.5 tons of payload. These two cargos were the…
After the return of Soyuz MS07 to Earth on June 3, 2018, there were only three astronauts left on the International Space Station. That’s why on June 8, a new crew took off from Baikonur to join the ISS after two days of travel and 34 orbits. This crew of Soyuz MS09 consisted of American…
On Friday, May 11, 2018, a Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral. However, this one was quite different from the usual versions: the interstage is black, as well as the legs and grid fins. The reason for all these differences? This launcher underwent new modifications, but these will mainly be its last major evolutions.…
Mars, the fourth rocky planet in our Solar System. It is all red and still has many secrets. However, it could teach us a lot about the formation of other major rocky bodies like Earth or Venus. That’s why scientists are constantly sending missions to the Red Planet. On Saturday, May 5th, a new probe…
Do you know about Copernicus? We’re not talking here about the Prussian astronomer who popularized the idea of heliocentrism, but rather about a program of the European Space Agency (ESA). The ESA developed Copernicus for the purpose of monitoring our Earth, whether it’s forests, oceans, or even air pollution. To accomplish this surveillance, the program…
On January 21, 2018, at 2:43 a.m. (French time), RocketLab launched its Electron launcher for the second time from New Zealand. This lightweight rocket, 1.2 meters in diameter and 17 meters tall, took off for a second test flight after the partial failure on May 25, 2017. On its first flight, named It’s a test…
The launcher took off on January 8th at 2:00 AM (French time) with… Zuma! This somewhat special satellite was successfully placed into orbit by the private American company.
Three days after Elon Musk’s magnificent teaser (photos of the Falcon Heavy in the hangar) and one minute after the launch of a Japanese H-IIA rocket, a Falcon 9 took off. On board? Satellites 31 to 40 of the Iridium NEXT constellation. This rocket departed from California, specifically from the Vandenberg military base (launch pad…