Minotaur 4 Launch on August 11, 2011
Team Vandenberg launched a Minotaur 4 from Space Launch Complex-8 here at 7:45 a.m. Aug. 11, 2011.
Russian Soyuz Rocket Launches With Progress 44 Cargo Ship
A Russian Soyuz rocket launches the unmanned Progress 44 cargo ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome on Aug. 24, 2011, to deliver fresh supplies to the International Space Station. The rocket and spacecraft crashed in eastern Russian just over five minutes after liftoff.
Members of the Media Watch Grail's Smoke Trail
Media representatives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida photograph the launch of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL). Liftoff was at 9:08:52 a.m. EDT on Sept. 10, 2011.
Ariane 5 Launch September 2011
On 21 September 2011 an Ariane 5 launcher lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on its mission to place two telecommunications satellites, Arabsat-5C and SES-2, into their planned transfer orbits.
Tiangong 1 Lifts Off
China's first space laboratory module, Tiangong 1 (Chinese for "Heavenly Palace") blasts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Sept. 29, 2011. The module will fly a 2-year mission for docking tests.
Soyuz 2-1b Rocket Launch October 2011
Soyuz 2-1b rocket lifts off on Sunday, October 2, 2011, from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
THAAD Test Flight Launch
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor is launched during the system's first operational test at 1:56 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time Oct. 5 at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii. The test was conducted by the Ballistic Missile Defense System Operational Test Agency with the support of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. During the test the THAAD system engaged and simultaneously intercepted two ballistic missile targets.
Soyuz VS01 Clears the Tower
Soyuz clears the tower for the first time from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana carrying the first two Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites, on October 21, 2011.
Progress 45 Cargo Ship Launches Spaceward
A Soyuz rocket carrying the Progress 45 cargo ship lifts off from a pad at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 30, 2011.
Shenzhou 8 Lifts Off
Launch of Shenzhou 8 on October 31, 2011, was successful. According to the orbit calculation, the Shenzhou 8 spaceship has entered its operating orbit with a perigee height of 200 km and apogee height of 329 km. The obliquity of the orbit is 42 degrees, and the orbiting cycle is 5379 seconds.
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