Join us for a roundup of the week’s space news with reporters covering the big stories. Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Irene Klotz, Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, and Richard Tribou, Space Reporter and Senior Content Editor for The Orlando Sentinel.
SpaceX performs a tanking test, called a wet dress rehearsal, on its fully integrated Starship rocket on March 4, 2024. At the same time, it was preparing to launch the Crew-8 mission for NASA from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX may be on the cusp of launching its massive Starship rocket for a third time, potentially as early as next Thursday. In an online update, the company said it is targeting Thursday, March 14 for the third flight test of Starship “pending regulatory approval.”
Crew Dragon Endeavour approaches the International Space Station carrying three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut. Image: NASA TV.
A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft caught up with the International Space Station early Tuesday after a 28-hour orbital chase, bringing three NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut to the outpost for a six-month tour of duty.
SpaceX’s new Starlink V2 Mini satellites inside a payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX
Coming on the heels of the successful launch of the four-person Crew-8 mission heading up to the International Space Station, SpaceX is preparing for another Falcon 9 launch from the Cape. The Starlink 6-41 mission will see another batch of 23 internet satellites head up to join the growing constellation in low Earth orbit.
A collection of 53 payloads are encapsulated inside a pair of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings ahead of the launch of the Transporter-10 rideshare mission set for March 4, 2024. Image: SpaceX
For a tenth time in a little more than three years, SpaceX will conduct a rideshare mission, carrying dozens of small payloads, called CubeSats and MicroSats, to low Earth orbit. The mission, dubbed Transporter-10, is set to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Monday afternoon.
A remotely triggered camera captures the liftoff of a SpaceX Dragon atop a Falcon 9 rocket on the Crew 8 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
Three NASA astronauts and a cosmonaut blasted off on a flight to the International Space Station Sunday, the first of two launches by NASA and the Russian space agency to replace five of the lab’s seven crew members and to deliver a fresh Soyuz ferry ship for two cosmonauts midway through a yearlong flight.
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour sits atop a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the launch of the Crew-8 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
For the second time this year, SpaceX is preparing to send a quartet of people up to the International Space Station. Its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft are standing by at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, hoping weather permits a launch late Saturday night.
In just the fourth Leap Day launch in history, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX made the most of a weather delay to an astronaut launch from Florida’s Space Coast. The company launched a batch of Starlink satellites from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday morning.
Firefly’s new MLV manufacturing and integration building in Bertram, Texas. Image: Firefly Aerospace
In the months following its fourth flight of it Alpha rocket, Firefly Aerospace continues to push forward with work on two new rockets in partnership with Northrop Grumman. On Wednesday, Firefly is set to hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking a manufacturing expansion to support the work flows on the Antares 330 rocket and its sequel, the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV).
SpaceX performed a deployment test of its new emergency egress system from the crew access tower at Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is closing in on certifying its launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 to support astronaut and cargo missions with its second-generation Dragon spacecraft. On Monday, the company performed a test of its new emergency egress system featuring a type of deployable slide.
The four members of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission pose in front of the NASA Gulfstream plane at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility. (Left to right) Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA Astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
Set against a bright, blue Florida skyline, the three astronauts and one cosmonaut who make up the SpaceX Crew-8 mission touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sunday afternoon.
File photo of Starlink V2 Mini satellites being prepared for launch in a payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX is preparing to launch its biggest batch of second generation Starlink satellites to date on Saturday. The company loaded 24 Starlink V2 Minis onto its Falcon 9 rocket, which is preparing for flight at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
An onboard camera captures the plume from the nine Merlin 1D engines on the first stage of the Falcon 9 as it climbed away from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Feb, 22, 2024. Image: SpaceX.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the West Coast with another batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 8:11 p.m. PST Thursday (11:11 p.m. EST / 0411 UTC).
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named Odysseus cruises over the near side of the Moon on Feb. 21, 2024, a day ahead of its scheduled landing attempt. Image: Intuitive Machines
Update 2:34 p.m. EST: Intuitive Machines said it “chose to exercise an additional orbit before starting the IM-1 mission landing sequence” and therefore, adjusted the anticipated landing time.
A image of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander named ‘Odysseus’ captured by one of the spacecraft’s onboard cameras. Image: Intuitive Machines
Achieving a successful lunar landing becomes increasingly more tangible for the team at Intuitive Machines with each passing day since launch. On Wednesday, the Houston-based company announced that it was able to place its robotic lunar lander, named Odysseus, into a 92 km circular orbit around the Moon, clearing the way for a landing attempt on Thursday.
Indonesia’s Merah Putih 2 awaits launch inside the payload fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
Indonesia aims to increase broadband internet access across its country through the launch of its latest communications satellite aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Telkomsat HTS 113BT satellite, also referred to as Merah Putih 2, is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:11 p.m. EST (2011 UTC).
An Electron rocket lifts off from Rocket Lab’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula carrying the ADRAS-J satellite for Astroscale. Image: Rocket Lab.
A small satellite that will inspect a discarded rocket body in orbit lifted off Sunday/Monday on a mission to develop techniques for removing space debris. The satellite built by Japan-based Astroscale launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC).
Join us for a roundup of the week’s space news with reporters covering the big stories. Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Chris Davenport of The Washington Post and Gina Sunseri of ABC News. The show goes live at 4 p.m. EST (2100 UTC).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Starlink 7-14 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX
Update: 8:15 p.m. EST: SpaceX scrubbed the launch Wednesday evening.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-124 payload of missile warning satellites for the Missile Defense Agency and Space Development Agency, completes being raised into its vertical launch position at Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida ahead of today’s scheduled 5:30 p.m. EST liftoff. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is aiming to launch its eighth Falcon 9 rocket on a National Security Space Launch (NSSL) mission on Wednesday evening. The launch, named United States Space Force 124 (USSF-124) is targeting liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at the start of a four-hour launch window that opens at 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 UTC).
Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named ‘Odysseus,’ displayed prior to encapsulation inside a pair of SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX
Update 11:05 p.m. EST: SpaceX and Intuitive Machines scrubbed the launch attempt for Wednesday morning.
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