A Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for liftoff on SpaceX’s Transporter 3 rideshare mission. Credit: SpaceX
With its small satellite launch business booming, SpaceX is set to double its cadence of dedicated rideshare missions this year, beginning with the liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral with 105 spacecraft for customers in 20 countries.
File photo of a previous Astra rocket on a launch pad in Alaska. Credit: Astra
Tests are beginning this week at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for the first flight of Astra’s small satellite launcher from the Florida spaceport, following the company’s successful November demonstration mission from Alaska.
Artist’s illustration of the fully deployed James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA
Still cruising toward its operating orbit nearly a million miles from Earth, the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope completed a transformation into its final dimension Saturday with the last of some 50 post-launch deployments, the unfolding of the observatory’s 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror.
Artist’s illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope’s port-side mirror segment folded into place. Credit: NASA
One of the two wings holding three of the James Webb Space Telescope’s gold-coated mirror segments folded into place Friday, setting the stage for positioning of the other wing Saturday to complete the nearly $10 billion observatory’s major deployments.
SpaceX’s first launch of 2022 carried 49 more Starlink satellites into orbit. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and deployed 49 more Starlink internet satellites, blazing a new trail to orbit on the first of as many as seven space missions from Florida’s Space Coast planned in January.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 49 Starlink broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
Artist’s concept of Webb’s secondary mirror support structure fully extended. Credit: NASA
In another major milestone for the James Webb Space Telescope, a motor-driven tripod unfolded as planned Wednesday, moving a 2.4-foot-wide secondary mirror into position to reflect collected starlight back down to the instruments that will study it.
Artist’s illustration of the James Webb Space Telescope, as it appeared Jan. 4 after sunshield tensioning. Credit: NASA
The final layers of the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshade were robotically pulled taut with a system of motors, cables, and pulleys Tuesday, clearing a major milestone before unfolding mirrors to collect light from the oldest galaxies in the universe.
Live coverage of the mission of the James Webb Space Telescope. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
The James Webb Space Telescope’s five-layer sunshield, seen here during ground testing at Northrop Grumman’s factory in Redondo Beach, California. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
Mission controllers started the delicate work of tightening the five razor-thin layers of the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshade Monday. Managers said the nearly $10 billion observatory is “hunky-dory” after pausing deployments over the weekend to adjust the observatory’s power levels and ensure motors needed for the tensioning are in tip-top shape.
File photo of a stack of Starlink satellites before a previous mission.. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX plans to kick off its 2022 launch schedule with a Falcon 9 rocket flight Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the company’s next group of Starlink internet satellites.
An Angara A5 rocket lifts off Dec. 27 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense
The third test launch of Russia’s heavy-lift Angara A5 rocket Dec. 27 was marred by an upper stage failure that stranded a dummy payload in a low orbit.
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope with one half of its sunshield deployed. Credit: NASA
Flying outbound from Earth at a distance of more than 400,000 miles, the James Webb Space Telescope extended one of two booms Friday to begin unfurling the mission’s five-layer sunshield. With the port-side boom deployed, work is underway tonight to extend another boom on the starboard side.
JWST’s sunshield deployment during a ground test at Northrop Grumman. Credit: NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope opened covers that protected the mission’s folded sunshield Thursday, and deployed a momentum flap to help the observatory balance against the unending light pressure from the sun.
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifts off Dec. 27 with 36 OneWeb satellites. Credit: Roscosmos
A Russian Soyuz rocket launched Monday with 36 more OneWeb internet satellites, the 12th of 19 Soyuz missions needed to deliver into orbit the company’s first-generation network of nearly 650 spacecraft.
A Long March 7A rocket lifts off Dec. 23 from the Wenchang space center. Credit: CASC
China launched two classified Shiyan satellites Dec. 23 into a geostationary transfer orbit aboard a Long March 7A rocket, one of the country’s newest launch vehicles. The mission took off from China’s Wenchang launch base on Hainan Island.
Artist’s illustration of Webb’s configuration as of Dec. 29, with its Deployable Tower Assembly extended. Credit: NASA
The James Webb Space Telescope extended a four-foot tower Wednesday to give the observatory’s mirrors and instruments, designed to function at cryogenic temperatures, enough separation from the hot side of the spacecraft after the mission’s sunshield deploys over the next few days.
Artist’s illustration of the Webb telescope’s sunshield pallet opening. Credit: NASA
Mission controllers started the risky process Tuesday to unfurl the James Webb Space Telescope’s sunshield, a five-layer thermal barrier necessary to give the observatory infrared vision into the distant universe.
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with 36 OneWeb broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
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