Wink News 11/15/2018
U.S. and Russian engineers are readying a trio of rockets for launches from Virginia, Florida and Kazakhstan Thursday and Friday, two to send a combined 6.5 tons of cargo to the International Space Station and one from SpaceX to boost a Qatari communications satellite into orbit.
Continuing a rapid-fire launch pace, China plans to launch a pair of Beidou navigation satellites Monday followed by another SpaceX flight, this one from California, to put more than 60 small satellites from 17 nations into orbit.
At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX engineers are readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch from historic pad 39A on Thursday to boost Qatar’s Es’hail 2 satellite into orbit, a powerful relay station intended to carry direct-to-home television across the Middle East and to provide amateur radio services for Brazil and India.
The California rocket builder test fired the Falcon 9’s first-stage engines Monday night, clearing way for liftoff Thursday at 3:46 p.m., the opening of a one-hour 43-minute window. Forecasters predicted a 60 percent chance of favorable weather after a cold front moves through the area. The outlook improves to 90 percent “go†on Friday.
At the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport — MARS — at NASA’s Wallops Island, Virginia, flight test facility, Northrop Grumman is readying an Antares rocket for launch early Friday to send a Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station. The automated spacecraft is packed with 7,385 pounds of equipment and supplies, including fresh fruit and ice cream.
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https://www.winknews.com/2018/11/15/spacex-and-back-to-back-space-station-launches-on-tap/
