Date set for final Ariane 5 rocket launch

Arianespace is planning to launch an Ariane 5 rocket next week that will place two satellites in space, one for Germany and one for France.

Designated Flight VA261, this will be the 117th and last mission using an Ariane 5. The launcher will be replaced by the new European heavy launcher Ariane 6.

The German satellite, Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit, is for the German Space Agency. The second payload, SYRACUSE 4B, is for the French Armament General Directorate.

The launch is planned for 5:28 p.m. EDT on Friday (June 16).

Both satellites will be placed into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit approximately 30 minutes after liftoff.

For this launch, Arianespace will serve, for the first time, the German Space Agency on behalf of the German Government by orbiting the Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit, as well as the French Ministry of Defence, owner of the SYRACUSE 4B satellite.

The Heinrich-Hertz-Mission is the first dedicated German telecommunications satellite-based mission that will be used to conduct research and test new technologies. The mission is managed by the German Space Agency on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and with the participation of the German Federal Ministry of Defence. The Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit was mainly developed and built by OHB System.

SYRACUSE 4B will provide better telecommunications services for the French military. The satellite will work in conjunction with SYRACUSE 4A, already in orbit, to connect armed forces when deployed. The satellites will also support North Atlantic Treaty Organization operations.

The SYRACUSE 4B and SYRACUSE 4A satellites were developed by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space.

The June 16 launch will be the 347th launch for the European-based launch service provider Arianespace. Heinrich-Hertz-Satellit and SYRACUSE 4B will be the 1,152nd and 1,153rd satellites to be launched by Arianespace.

Experimental plane crashes in Virginia killing a father and son

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash of an experimental plane near Colonial Beach, Va., that killed a father and son. The accident happened on Wednesday, the NTSB said in a post on Twitter.

At 10:28 a.m. Wednesday, Virginia State Police (VSP) responded to a plane crash in the area of 687 Layton Landing Rd. in Colonial Beach, Va. “A Vans R6 model single-engine plane had crashed in a cornfield near a driveway, then, caught fire,” VSP said in a statement.

The pilot, Logan Edward Woodworth, 28, and his passenger Bruce Edward Woodworth, 57, both of Wilmington, N.C., formerly residents of the Northern Neck, were both confirmed deceased on the scene. No one on the ground was injured.

The crash remains under investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and NTSB.

2023 Fatal Plane Crashes In Virginia

June - Cessna jet bound for New York crashes near Staunton, Va.

March - Preliminary report investigating plane crash in Hillsville, Va., released by NTSB

February - NTSB releases preliminary report on plane crash in Rockingham County, Va.

January - NTSB report shows pilot and passenger were in plane “not to be flown”

Cessna jet bound for New York crashes near Staunton, Va.

A Cessna Citation jet was destroyed when it disappeared from radar screens and crashed near Staunton, Va., on Sunday.

Flight tracking data from websites like Flightaware.com show that the plane left Elizabethton Municipal Airport, Tenn., on Sunday and headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York.

The jet never landed in New York and made a course reversal about one hour and 15 minutes into the flight and continued a straight path for about 50 miles.

Flight tracking data shows that the airplane began a rapidly descending right spiral from 34,000 feet, followed by another spiral at 20,000 ft. The FAA confirmed the jet crashed near Staunton, Va.

The aircraft is a Cessna 560 Citation V (registration N611VG) manufactured in 1990. The multi-engine jet is registered to Encore Motors of Melbourne Inc. in Florida, according to FAA records.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command sent F-16 aircraft to intercept the unresponsive jet once it entered airspace near Washington, D.C.

The F-16 aircraft made several attempts to establish contact with the pilot until it crashed. The jet was intercepted at approximately 3:20 p.m. EDT. The pilot was unresponsive. The Cessna soon crashed near the George Washington National Forest in Virginia.

This is the fourth fatal plane crash in Virginia now under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board in 2023. Two fatal plane crashes were reported near Suffork and Dayton in January and one in Hillsville, Va., in February.