Month: July 2023
Europe’s workhorse Ariane 5 rocket to retire after 27 years service
Europe’s iconic Ariane 5 rocket, with its liquid hydrogen-fueled core stage and solid rocket boosters, has been symbolic of Europe’s guaranteed access to space providing a unique capacity for launching satellites and spacecraft into precise orbits over almost three decades. Its long run comes to an end when the final Ariane 5 rocket lifts off on Wednesday.
The last European Ariane 5 rocket arrives at the launch pad for its final countdown
The last Ariane 5 rocket was hauled to the launch pad on Monday at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s South American spaceport. Ariane 5, which for years was the world’s leading commercial satellite launcher, is scheduled to make its final lift off on Tuesday, carrying a French military satellite and a communications technology testbed spacecraft for Germany.
SpaceX launches European ‘dark energy telescope’ to help unravel cosmology’s biggest mysteries
The European Space Agency launched its $1.5 billion Euclid space telescope Saturday, an ambitious, first-of-a-kind attempt to pin down the nature of dark matter, an unknown material pervading the cosmos, and dark energy, the mysterious repulsive force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe.