Space News & Blog Articles

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Globalstar hush-hush ahead of launch with SpaceX

SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket vertical on pad 40 Saturday in preparation for launch with the Globalstar FM15 satellite. Credit: SpaceX

Globalstar is set to add a spare spacecraft to its commercial data relay network early Sunday with a launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, but the satellite operator remained silent about the mission on the eve of liftoff.

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SpaceX launches German military radar satellite from California

A Falcon 9 rocket soars by the moon in the sky over California’s Central Coast, carrying Germany’s SARah 1 military imaging satellite into orbit. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now

A four-ton, cloud-penetrating radar observation satellite for the German military soared into orbit Saturday from California on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a 10-year mission to collect all-weather reconnaissance imagery.

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SpaceX deploys more Starlink satellites as astronomers renew brightness concerns

SpaceX launched 53 more Starlink internet satellites Friday on a Falcon 9 booster that flew for the 13th time. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 booster for a record-breaking 13th time Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hauling 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit as astronomers renew concerns about the growing brightness of the latest generation of the broadband relay spacecraft.

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Live coverage: SpaceX poised to launch German military satellite from California

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with the SARah 1 radar reconnaissance satellite for the German military. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

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German military radar satellite ready for SpaceX rocket ride

A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for launch with Germany’s SARah 1 radar satellite. Credit: SpaceX

The first satellite in a nearly billion-dollar program to provide the German military with improved radar surveillance imagery from space is set to rocket into a polar orbit Saturday from California’s Central Coast on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher.

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First tower segment for SpaceX’s Starship launch site moves to pad 39A

The first segment of SpaceX’s Starship launch tower moves by the Vehicle Assembly Building late Wednesday on the way to pad 39A. Credit: Steven Young / Spaceflight Now

The first segment of a new launch tower for SpaceX’s behemoth Starship rocket moved across the Kennedy Space Center late Wednesday to pad 39A, where the company is poised to erect one of the tallest structures at the Cape Canaveral spaceport.

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Live coverage: SpaceX set to launch 53 more Starlink internet satellites

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starlink 4-19 mission launched SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

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NASA agrees to provide launcher for UK-built lunar communications satellite

Artist’s concept of the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. Credit: SSTL

NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed that a pathfinder data relay satellite to support missions on the polar regions and the far side of the moon will be launched on a commercial U.S. rocket, deepening trans-Atlantic ties on the Artemis lunar program, officials said Wednesday.

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Watch live: SpaceX’s launch pad 39A (Members Only)

This page is available to Spaceflight Now members only

Support Spaceflight Now’s unrivaled coverage of the space program by becoming a member. Your monthly or annual membership will help us continue and expand our coverage. As a supporter of the site you will also gain access to bonus content such as this page.

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SpaceX planning another trifecta of launches this weekend

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.

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Ninth asteroid added to Lucy mission; optimism grows on solar array issue

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.

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Momentus orbital transfer vehicle suffers power problem after launch

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.”

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FAA moves SpaceX a step closer to receiving Starship launch license

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.

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Photos: Artemis 1 rocket hauled to launch pad for another countdown rehearsal

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.

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Two hurricane research satellites lost in Astra launch failure

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.

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Live coverage: Astra counting down to launch today at Cape Canaveral

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.

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NASA to purchase five more Dragon crew missions from SpaceX

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.

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Astra to begin three-launch campaign with NASA hurricane research satellites

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.

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U.S. Space Force orders eight launches from ULA and SpaceX

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.

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SpaceX rocket hauls Egyptian telecom satellite toward geosynchronous orbit

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.

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NASA assesses micrometeoroid impact on James Webb mirror segment

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

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