Tag: Launch

SpaceX makes first US military launch, then lands rocket again

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX on Monday blasted off a secretive United States government payload, known only as NROL-76, marking the first military launch for the California-based aerospace company headed by billionaire tycoon Elon Musk. The payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, which makes and operates spy satellites for the US, soared into the sky atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 7:15 am (1115 GMT). About 10 minutes after […]

PM Hwang: US, South Korea agree early deployment of THAAD

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — The United States and South Korea agreed on the early deployment of a controversial US missile defense system in the region, the South’s acting president said Monday after talks with visiting US Vice President Mike Pence. “We have agreed to further strengthen the readiness posture of ROK-US alliance that matches the threats posed by North Korea through a swift deployment of THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense),” said Hwang Kyo-Ahn at […]

US launches missile strike against Syria; 59 precision-guided missiles hit airfield

PALM BEACH, United States (AFP) — United States President Donald Trump ordered a massive military strike against Syria on Thursday in retaliation for a chemical attack with a sarin-like nerve agent which Washington blames on President Bashar al-Assad. A White House official said 59 precision-guided missiles hit Shayrat Airfield in Syria, where the US believes Tuesday’s deadly attack was launched. The official had earlier given the number of missiles involved as 70. The missiles were blasted […]

Japan says three N. Korean missiles landed in its waters

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Three of the four missiles launched by North Korea on Monday landed in Japanese-controlled waters, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. “North Korea today fired four ballistic missiles almost simultaneously and they flew some 1,000 kilometres (620 miles),” Abe said in parliament. “Three of them landed in our country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).” © Agence France-Presse

Samsung unveils Windows 10 powered 2 in 1 tablet

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) — Samsung Electronics launched two new tablets on Sunday (February 26), marking its first major announcement since being forced to withdraw the flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after some of the devices caught fire. The Galaxy Tab S3 and the Galaxy Book were presented at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in past years the scene of major Samsung launches. This year, Samsung has postponed the presentation of the Galaxy S8, its […]

ZTE launches world’s first 5G-ready smartphone

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Chinese telecoms giant ZTE unveiled Sunday what it said is the world’s first smartphone compatible with the lightening-fast 5G mobile internet service that networks expect to have up and running by 2020. The company said the Gigabit Phone is the first smartphone capable of download speeds reaching up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) — up to 10 times faster than the first generation of 4G services widely in use today. […]

Le Pen vows ‘France first’ at campaign launch

by Béatrice LE BOHEC Agence France Presse LYON, France (AFP) — Far-right leader Marine Le Pen vowed Sunday she would be a president who puts France first as she formally launched a campaign echoing many of the themes that propelled Donald Trump to the White House. With polls showing her now leading the first round of the election race, the head of the National Front (FN) attacked “mass immigration”, globalization and “Islamic fundamentalism” and said […]

Japan launches satellite to study geomagnetic storms

KAGOSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) — Japan launched an Epsilon-2 rocket on Tuesday (December 20) carrying the Exploration of Energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) mission satellite. The satellite will study the creation and disappearance of highly charged electrons in the region of outer space near the Earth along with space storms and the effects of solar winds. The rocket was successfully launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima prefecture, south-western Japan, at 8 p.m. local […]

Space freighter burns up after launch to to ISS: Russia

by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — An unmanned cargo ship travelling to the International Space Station burned up in the atmosphere shortly after launch on Thursday, Russia’s space agency said. “According to preliminary information, as a result of an abnormal situation, the cargo ship’s loss occurred some 190 kilometers (110 miles) above the remote, unpopulated mountainous territory of (Russia’s) Tuva region, and most fragments burned up in dense layers of the atmosphere,” Roscosmos said […]

N. Korea missile exploded shortly after lift-off: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An explosion almost immediately after launch was behind the failure of North Korea’s latest test-firing of a powerful medium-range missile, the South Korean military confirmed Monday. North Korea tested a Musudan missile — capable of hitting US bases as far away as Guam — shortly after midday Saturday near an air base in the northwestern city of Kusong. Such launches are usually reported within a few hours or even minutes […]

NASA prepares for Juno spacecraft’s Jupiter orbit

CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — After nearly a five year wait, scientists at NASA will get their very first close-encounter with Jupiter. Launched in August of 2011, the Juno spacecraft will enter into orbit around the largest planet in the solar system on July 04 after a 445-million mile (716-million km) journey. On Thursday (June 09), NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory opened the doors to one of their ‘clean rooms’ which held a large, 1/4 scale […]