On June 12, 2018 at 04:20 UTC the Japanese H-2A rocket was launched from Tanegashima Cosmodrome situated at the island located 115 km south of Kyushu. Kyushu is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. The rocket orbited the Japanese government “IGS-Radar-6” reconnaissance satellite equipped with a synthetic aperture radar imaging payload capable of resolving objects on the ground day and night, regardless of weather conditions.

On June 8, 2018 at 13:01 UTC the Russian "Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft docked with the Russian “Rassvet” (MIM-1) module of the International Space Station.

The spacecraft delivered 3 new members of Expedition 56 to the ISS, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopiev, German astronaut Alexander Gerst and American astronaut Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor. The new comers joined current ISS expedition members – Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev; American astronauts Andrew Feustel and Richard Arnold.

Soyuz MS-09 launch cover. The cover was autographed by the “Soyuz MS-09” crew: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopiev; German astronaut Alexander Gerst and American astronaut Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor.

On June 6, 2018 at 11:12 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft is piloted by 3 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Sergey Prokopiev (center), German astronaut Alexander Gerst (right) and American astronaut Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor (left).

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The space vehicle is to dock with the International Space Station on June 8. Prokopiev, Gerst and Auñón-Chancellor will join current ISS expedition ... Read more »

On June 5, 2018 at 13:07 UTC the Chang Zheng-3A (Long March-3A) rocket-carrier was launched from Xichang Cosmodrome, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The rocket orbited the “Fengyun-2H №9” (FY-2H) weather satellite.