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File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on pad 39A on Dec. 8, 2021. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky
SpaceX teams in Florida and California are preparing for three missions from three launch pads in three days, beginning Friday with a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a reusable Falcon 9 booster flying for a record 13th time.
The UltraFlex solar arrays on NASA’s Lucy spacecraft unfold during a ground test at a Lockheed Martin test facility in Colorado. Credit: Lockheed Martin
Engineers have made progress in attempts to fully unfurl a solar array wing that snagged on NASA’s Lucy asteroid explorer shortly after launch last October, adding to optimism that the spacecraft can complete its 12-year mission as planned.
Momentus’ Vigoride orbital transfer vehicle. Credit: Niall David / Momentus
The first test flight of a commercial orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus is suffering from a problem with its solar panels after launching last month on a SpaceX rocket, and the company said Monday that its confidence in completing the spacecraft’s demonstrations has “substantially declined.”
An aerial photo of SpaceX’s Starship launch complex near Boca Chica Beach, Texas. Credit: SpaceX
The FAA will require SpaceX to take more than 75 actions to reduce the environmental effects of flying its gigantic 40-story-tall Starship rocket from South Texas, but regulators found no significant impacts and moved SpaceX a step closer to receiving a launch license.
NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket rolls to pad 39B at sunrise on June 6. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket rolled out to pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on June 6, preparing for another countdown rehearsal later this month to try loading cryogenic propellants into the massive launcher.
Astra’s Rocket 3.3 vehicle lifted off at 1:43 p.m. EDT (1743 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral with the first two NASA TROPICS hurricane research satellites. Credit: Astra / NASASpaceflight
Two small NASA hurricane research satellites were destroyed after launch from Cape Canaveral Sunday when their commercial rocket, provided by Astra, prematurely shut down its upper stage engine before reaching the mission’s target orbit.
Astra is counting down to the first of three launches this summer to deploy a fleet of six small NASA hurricane research satellites. Liftoff of Astra’s small launcher from Cape Canaveral with the first two TROPICS nanosatellites is scheduled during a two-hour window opening at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT), weather permitting.
SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft is seen docked at the International Space Station in this May 21 photo. Credit: NASA
NASA says it plans to buy five more crew rotation missions on SpaceX’s fleet of Dragon spaceships, bringing SpaceX’s contract with the space agency to 14 operational astronaut launches, likely enough to keep the International Space Station staffed through 2030.
Astra’s Rocket 3.3, tail number LV0010, stands its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station before launch on NASA’s TROPICS-1 mission. Credit: Brady Kenniston / Astra
Astra is preparing to launch the first of three straight dedicated missions for NASA this weekend at Cape Canaveral to deploy six shoebox-size hurricane research satellites, helping pioneer a new paradigm of riskier but less expensive science missions.
Artist’s illustration of a Vulcan Centaur launch. Credit: United Launch Alliance
The U.S. Space Force recently ordered five military satellite launches from United Launch Alliance and three from SpaceX, awards valued at $846 million for missions scheduled to fly in the next two years.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket dashes past the moon carrying the Nilesat 301 satellite into orbit. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now
SpaceX launched an Egyptian communications satellite toward a high-altitude geostationary orbit Wednesday from Cape Canaveral. It was the first commercial launch of a geostationary payload this year, another sign of a shift in the satellite market toward smaller, lower-orbiting communications satellites.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Egyptian Nilesat 301 communications satellite. Follow us on Twitter.
The Nilesat 301 communications satellite undergoes a solar array deployment test. Credit: Thales Alenia Space
An Egyptian-owned communications satellite is nestled in the nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for launch Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, heading for an orbital position more than 22,000 miles over the equator.
File photo of a Globalstar second-generation satellite. Credit: Thales Alenia Space
A spare satellite for Globalstar’s data relay and messaging constellation will launch from Cape Canaveral on a Falcon 9 rocket later this month, multiple sources said, in a previously-undisclosed mission on SpaceX’s schedule.
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight spacecraft. Credit: NASA
NASA’s Lunar Flashlight — a small satellite to search for water ice in dark craters near the moon’s poles — will launch as a piggyback payload on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a commercial lunar lander after delays caused it to miss a ride on the agency’s Artemis 1 mission.
A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship approaches the International Space Station on Aug. 30, 2021. Credit: NASA
SpaceX has postponed this week’s planned launch of a Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station to investigate a possible leak detected during fueling of the spacecraft at Cape Canaveral.
NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket is set roll out to its launch pad early Monday at the Kennedy Space Center for another attempt later this month to fully load it with super-cold propellants, the culmination of a countdown rehearsal officials aim to complete before moving forward with launch later this summer.
A Long March 2F rocket lifts off with the Shenzhou 14 mission at 10:44 p.m. EDT Saturday (0244 GMT Sunday). Credit: CASC
China’s Shenzhou 14 spacecraft glided to an automated docking at the Tiangong space station Sunday, hours after launching with three astronauts to begin a six-month mission that will see the outpost triple in size with the arrival of two new 20-ton research modules.
Live coverage of China’s Shenzhou 14 mission, a planned six-month expedition to the Chinese space station. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
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