On November 17, 2018 at 09:01 UTC the "Cygnus” privately owned U.S. unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, USA. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Antares” rocket-carrier. The "Cygnus” (CRS NG-10 “S.S. John Young”) unmanned supply spacecraft, built by U.S. space firm Orbital Sciences Corp., was orbited on its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. CRS means Commercial Resupply Services. The "Cygnus” (CRS NG-10 “S.S. John Young”) is the 10th successful flight of the Orbital ATK uncrewed resupply spacecraft Cygnus.

On November 16, 2018 at 18:14 UTC the “Progress MS-10” unmanned supply spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was orbited by the “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier.

On November 15, 2018 at 20:46 UTC the "Falcon 9” rocket-carrier was launched from LC-39A of the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch was performed by the "SpaceX” private company supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited the Qatari “Es'hail 2” telecommunications satellite.

On November 14, 2018 at 11:38 UTC the GSLV Mk-III-D2 rocket-carrier was launched from Sriharikota spaceport, 80 km from Chennai, India. The rocket (GSLV - Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) orbited the “GSAT-29” communications satellite.

On November 11, 2018, the Japanese HTV "Kounotori-7” unmanned supply spacecraft was deorbited. After undocking from the ISS, HTV-7 remained in orbit for several days before conducting a series of de-orbit burns for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean. During preparations for its destructive reentry and after the deorbit burn but before entry interface (the point at which the discernable atmosphere begins to affect a spacecraft), ground controllers remotely commanded HTV-7 to release the HSRC (HTV Small Re-entry Capsule) capsule at an altitude of 300 km. Because HSRC needs to splashdown in an area where recovery will be easy to accomplish, HTV-7 had the distinction of being the first JAXA Station resupply spacecraft to perform a destructive reentry over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean instead of over the Southern Pacific Ocean spacecraft graveyard that has been used on all six previous ... Read more »

On November 11, 2018 at 03:50 UTC, the “Electron” rocket-carrier was launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, a commercial spaceport located close to Ahuriri Point at the southern tip of Mahia Peninsula, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. It is owned and operated by private spaceflight company Rocket Lab. The rocket orbited nanosatellites: US – “IRVINEO”, “CICERO-10”, Lemur-2 ‘Zupanski’, Lemur-2 ‘Chanusiak’, “Proxima-I”, “Proxima-II” and German “Pride of Savaria”. It was the first commercial launch of an “Electron” rocket.

On November 7, 2018, the Japanese "HTV Kounotori-7” unmanned supply spacecraft departed the International Space Station. First HTV-6 was disengaged with the space station's robotic arm from a docking port on the Harmony module. At 16:50 UTC the spacecraft was released by German astronaut Alexander Gerst and American astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor. The HTV’s mission is not over after its departure from the space station. HTV-7 will remain in orbit for several days before conducting a series of de-orbit burns for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean on November 10.

On November 7, 2018 at 00:47 UTC the Russian "Soyuz-ST-B” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou launch site in French Guiana. The rocket equipped with the "Fregat” booster orbited the European “MetOp-C” meteorological satellite.

On November 3, 2018 at 23:17 UTC the “Soyuz-2” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket equipped with the “Fregat” booster (upper stage) orbited the “Glonass-M” navigation satellite. The Russian GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System – operated by the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces – is currently the only global alternative to the American GPS fleet in operation that has global coverage of comparable precision.

On November 1, 2018 at 15:57 UTC the "Chang Zheng-3B” (Long March-3B) rocket-carrier was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The rocket orbited the “Beidou-3 GEO-1” navigation satellites.

On October 27, 2018 at 04:08 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 “Ibuki-2”, Japan’s second Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Five other satellites from Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the Philippines accompanied the “Ibuki-2” on the flight.

On October 27, 2018 at 08:00 UTC, the three-stage “Zhuque-1” rocket was launched by a Chinese start-up named LandSpace from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, Gansu Province, the northwest of China. The rocket on its inaugural flight was to orbit a microsatellite but the rocket failed to place its payload into orbit.

On October 25, 2018 at 03:15 Moscow time the “Soyuz-2.1B” rocket-carrier was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Arkhangelsk region, North Russia. The launch was performed by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces. The rocket orbited the “Kosmos-2528” satellite. The satellite payload is the fourth “Lotos S1” military intelligence satellite built for the Russian Ministry of Defense. The Russian Defense Ministry designed the new satellite “Kosmos-2528”, using the Russian military’s catch-all naming scheme for defense and intelligence spacecraft.

On October 25, 2018 at 06:57 Beijing time the “Long March – 4B” (“Changzheng-4B”) rocket-carrier was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket orbited the “Haiyang-2B” oceanography satellite.

On October 20, 2018 at 01:45 UTC the “Ariane-5” rocket-carrier was launched from Kourou Cosmodrome in French Guiana. The rocket boosted a pair of satellites into space for a seven-year plunge into the inner solar system. The voyage will require seven planetary flybys to slow down enough in the sun’s gravitational clutches to slip into orbit around hellish Mercury. The “BepiColombo” mission consists of 2 orbital space vehicles: Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO, Mio) and Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO).

On October 17, 2018 the "Atlas-5” rocket-carrier was launched from SLC-41 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The launch was performed by United Launch Alliance supported by the 45th Space Wing of US Air Force. The rocket orbited AEHF-4 (Advanced Extremely High Frequency) military telecommunication satellite.

On October 15, 2018 at 04:23 UTC the "Chang Zheng-3B” (Long March-3B) rocket-carrier was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Xichang, southwest China's Sichuan Province. The rocket orbited Beidou-39 and Beidou-40 navigation satellites.

The covers were autographed by the “Soyuz MS-10” crew: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin and American astronaut Tyler Hague.

On October 11, 2018 at 08:40 UTC the Russian “Soyuz MS-10” spacecraft was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The space vehicle was to be orbited by the Russian “Soyuz-FG” rocket-carrier. The spacecraft was piloted by 2 cosmonauts: Commander, Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin (right) and American astronaut Tyler Hague.

Photo by Russian Cosmonaut training center.

The “Soyuz MS-10” spaceflight aborted shortly after launch due to a failure of the “Soyuz-FG” launch vehicle boosters. It was intended to transport two members of the Expedition 57 ... Read more »