Intuitive Machines engineers loading the IM-1 mission Nova-C lunar lander into its custom container in Houston, TX. Image: Intuitive Machines
In a blend of interesting circumstances and happenstance, two private companies and Japan’s space agency are all poised to land on the Moon in the back half of January 2024.
The Falcon Heavy for the USSF 52 mission to launch the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane inside the hangar at launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Image: SpaceX.
Following two Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida, SpaceX closed out the first weekend of December with a Falcon Heavy static fire test. The ignition of the 27 Merlin engines came a week ahead of the planned launch of a national security mission that has been on the books for half a decade.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky above Florida’s Space Coast amid the Starlink 6-31 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein
SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred at 11:00 p.m. EST (0400 UTC).
A pair of prototype satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation are encapsulated in a pair of payload fairings for launch aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket. Image: ULA
Tech giant Amazon is adding a fifth rocket to launch its satellite internet constellation. In a surprise move on Friday afternoon, the company announced it purchased three flights aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets to send batched of its Project Kuiper satellites to low Earth orbit.
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Korea 425 mission from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX
Kicking off the month of December for SpaceX was a Falcon 9 ride share mission with a payload of 25 spacecraft on board. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base was headlined by the Korea 425 mission.
A Soyuz 2.1a rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying a Progress cargo ship loaded with 5,500 pounds of equipment, supplies and propellant bound for the International Space Station. Image: NASA TV.
A Russian Progress cargo ship loaded with more than 5,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station blasted off from Kazakhstan early Friday, kicking off a two-day orbital chase.
The Ariane 6 rocket photographed at dusk in French Guiana. During a briefing on Thursday, Nov. 30, ESA officials discussed a summer timeframe for the first launch of the rocket. Image: ESA
Lengthy delays for the debut of Europe’s future flagship rocket may have an end in sight. During a briefing with press on Thursday, European Space Agency Director General Josef Aschbacher announced that Ariane 6 would have its first launch between mid-June and the end of July in 2024.
A Dual Engine Centaur upper stage for Atlas V nears completion at the factory in Decatur, Alabama. The RL10 engine marked 60 years of flight on Nov. 27, 2023. Image: United Launch Alliance
A rocket engine with a long pedigree marked a big milestone on Monday. It’s 60 years since the hydrogen-fueled RL10 engine debuted onboard a Centaur upper stage launched from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 27, 1963.
A Falcon 9 heads on a south-easterly trajectory from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 28, 2023, carrying a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit. Image: Pete Carstens.
The next batch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX’s space-based internet service soared into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Monday night from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
SpaceX was racing to get a Falcon 9 rocket ready to fly from Cape Canaveral Tuesday evening as launch preparations fell behind schedule. Currently liftoff with a batch of 23 Starlink satellites is planned for 1:47 a.m. EST (0647 UTC) Wednesday morning.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California carrying 22 Starlink satellites on Nov 20, 2023. Image: Space X.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 from the West Coast with another batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 2:30 a.m. PST Monday (5:30 a.m. EST / 1030 UTC).
Starship thunders away from its launch pad on its second test flight, trailing a one thousand foot exhaust plume. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX’s gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, blasted off on its second test flight Saturday and while the initial stages of the mission went smoothly, the first stage broke apart moments after separation from the Starship upper stage, which then blew itself up as it neared space.
Our live webcast from Starbase, Texas, will get underway at 5 a.m. CST / 6 a.m. EST / 1300 UTC. Our coverage of the countdown and launch is brought to you in partnership with our colleagues at LabPadre.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 stands ready for launch on a Starlink delivery mission. Image: Spaceflight Now.
A Falcon 9 rocket is to launch tonight with another batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned for 11:15 p.m. EDT (0415 UTC).
Starship and Super Heavy stand ready for a second test flight on Nov. 15, 2023. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX’s huge Super Heavy-Starship rocket has been cleared for a second test flight Friday in an attempt to boost the unpiloted Starship upper stage into space for the first time, the company announced Wednesday.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with a pair of SES’ O3b mPOWER satellites heading up to medium Earth orbit. Image: Michael Cain
Update 4:43 p.m. EST (2143 UTC): SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon 9 rocket to begin the mission. The satellites will start being deployed around 6:08 p.m. EST (2308 UTC).
For the fourth time in 2023, SpaceX will launch a smallsat rideshare mission to low Earth orbit with a multitude of payloads. The Transporter-9 mission is set to launch during a 55-minute window starting at 10:49 a.m. PST (18:49 UTC) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
A long-exposure from the beach at Cape Canaveral captures the first-stage and second-stage burns, plus the entry and landing burns of the first-stage. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.
Lighting up the night sky, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaked into orbit in spectacular fashion Thursday, kicking off a 32-hour rendezvous with the International Space Station to deliver 6,500 pounds of research gear, crew supplies and needed equipment.
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the CRS-29 mission, sending more than 6,500 pounds of cargo and science experiments up to the International Space Station. Image: SpaceX/NASA
Rodents, water filters and a laser relay are among the 6,500 pounds of science and equipment that will launch to the International Space Station on Thursday evening. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to liftoff carrying a SpaceX Cargo Dragon at 8:28 p.m. EST (0128 UTC on Nov. 10) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle sits on the runway at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility after returning from its sixth mission on Nov. 12, 2022. Image: U.S. Space Force
The U.S. military’s experimental spaceplane will soon soar to orbit using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, a Pentagon news release announced. The X-37B spacecraft will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center no earlier than December 7.
A ULA Vulcan rocket during a testing campaign (left) and a Falcon Heavy rocket at liftoff (right). Both launch vehicles were tapped to launch National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions during the fifth and final ordering year procurement by the U.S. Space Systems Command. Images: ULA, SpaceX
The U.S. Space Systems Command revealed the details of its latest batch of launch contracts for national security missions shared between United Launch Alliance and SpaceX.
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