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The United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket is transported from the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, in preparation for the certification mission (Cert-1). The mission will launch the Astrobotic Peregrine commercial lunar lander, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, into a highly elliptical orbit more than 220,000 miles (360,000 km) above Earth to intercept the Moon and carry a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight Payload into deep space. Image: ULA
Nearly a decade of planning, designing, assembly and testing for United Launch Alliance (ULA) is about to culminate in the first launch of its Vulcan rocket. The maiden flight of the launch vehicle is set for Monday, Jan. 8, at 2:18 am EST (0718 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The fully assembled rocket emerged from the Vertical Integration Facility around 10:40 a.m. EST on Friday to travel the roughly 500-meter journey to the launch pad. After the 61.6-meter-tall (202 feet) rocket completed its trek, ULA teams spent the rest of the day performing leak checks on the umbilicals that will fuel the rocket and checking out the guidance and flight termination systems.
That’s how we roll. #ToryTimelapse #VulcanRocket pic.twitter.com/3bz9LgMZ0r
— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) January 5, 2024
Onboard, the primary payload, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, is awaiting its ride to the Moon. It was hoisted atop the rocket inside the 15.5-meter-long (51 feet) payload fairing, manufactured by Beyond Gravity, on Dec. 20. Peregrine will be launched into a trans-lunar injection orbit to begin its journey to the Moon before the Centaur 5 upper stage continues on with Celestis Memorial Spaceflight’s “Enterprise Flight” to a heliocentric orbit around the Sun.
The payload for the Certification-1 (Cert-1) flight test on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is encapsulated inside its payload fairing in preparation for launch. The mission will launch the first Astrobotic Peregrine commercial lunar lander, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, into a highly elliptical orbit more than 220,000 miles (360,000 km) above Earth to intercept the Moon and carry a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight Payload into deep space. Image: ULA
A gold-plated tracker, an imager searching for surface water and an radiation detector are among the suite of five instruments flying on board one of NASA’s first missions to the Moon’s surface since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
Researchers and officials with the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services Program (CLPS) outlined the NASA-sponsored payloads on board Astrobotic’s lunar lander. It’s set to launch onboard the maiden flight of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan rocket.
“This whole task is not easy. Landing on the Moon is extremely difficult,” said Chris Culbert, the CLPS program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. “We recognize that success cannot be assured. The surface of the Moon hold many robotic spacecraft that were not able to land softly and complete there missions.”
Among the 20 total payloads manifested on the Peregrine Mission 1 lander are the following:
Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) – Goddard Space Flight CenterNeutron Spectrometer System (NSS) – Ames Research CenterLinear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS) – JSCNear-Infrared Volatile Spectrometer System (NIRVSS) – ARCPeregrine Ion-Trap Mass Spectrometer (PITMS) – GSFC“The particular suite of payloads on Peregrine 1 have some interesting synergies that will make important contributions to lunar science and exploration,” said Paul Niles, the CLPS project scientist at NASA. “Three of our instruments will collect data on lunar volatiles using different techniques. Two instruments will provide perspectives on the radiation environment at the lunar surface, helping us better prepare us to send crewed missions back to the Moon.”
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The orbital launch year is about to kick off in Florida in the same way it ended 2023: with the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On board the workhorse launch vehicle is a communications satellite for Sweden-based Ovzon. Liftoff of the rocket is set at the opening of a ten-minute launch window that begins at 6:04 p.m. EST (2304 UTC). It will mark the second Falcon 9 flight in less than 24 hours, following the launch of 21 Starlink satellites from California late Tuesday.
The mission will send the Ovzon-3 satellite to geostationary orbit, marking the first, privately-funded Swedish satellite launched.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage with commentary from the Cape beginning about an hour before liftoff.
“Sweden has a strong history with the satellite area, but this is a first for Sweden and I think that’s something we’re very proud of,” said Kristofer Alm, the Chief Marketing Officer for Ovzon. “And I think that Sweden is a very strong based to continue our development.”
Following liftoff on Wednesday, the satellite will spend the next three months reaching its orbital slot of 59.7 East. Once it gets there, Ovzon will begin its full testing campaign. The plan is that by mid-2024, the satellite will be full operational.
SpaceX launches its first orbital mission of 2024. The Starlink 7-9 mission featured the first six direct-to-cell satellites. Image: SpaceX
Update 9:31 p.m. EST: SpaceX adjusted the presumed liftoff time.
SpaceX is wasting no time in kicking off what it plans to be a historically busy year for orbital launches. The company launched its workhorse Falcon 9 rocket on a Starlink satellite mission Tuesday night.
Liftoff occurred at 7:44 p.m. PST (10:44 p.m. EST, 0344 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Among the 21 Starlink satellites launching Tuesday evening were the first six that will feature direct-to-cell capabilities.
This launch was originally planned for mid-December, but SpaceX ran into undisclosed issues in the run-up to launch and had to scrub the mission.
In a statement, SpaceX said that adding DTC will “enable mobile network operators around the world to provide seamless global access to texting, calling and browsing… on land, lakes or coastal waters.”
A PSLV-DL rocket stands tall at the First Launch Pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. The rocket will launch the PSLV-C58 mission on Jan. 1, 2024 locally. Image: ISRO
The orbital launch calendar is set to begin just hours into the first day of 2024 based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). At 0340 UTC (9:10 a.m. IST or 10:40 p.m. EST on Dec. 31), a rocket will liftoff from India to begin what will likely be another record-breaking global launch year.
A four-stage Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle with two solid rocket boosters, abbreviated to PSLV-DL, will launch with two spacecraft onboard: the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) and the PSLV Orbital Experimental Module-3 (POEM-3). The mission has the designation of PSLV-C58.
This New Year’s Day flight will be the 60th launch of a PSLV rocket and the fourth of the PSLV-DL variant.
The mission marks India’s first foray into X-ray astronomy. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) describes XPoSat as “the first dedicated scientific satellites from ISRO to carry out research in space-based polarization measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.”
The agency said the aim of the orbital observatory is to learn more about the degree and angle of polarization in hopes of better understanding the emissions from things, like neutron stars, pulsar wind nebulae, black holes and more.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the fog surrounding Space Launch Complex 40 on the Starlink 6-36 mission. This was the 72nd and final orbital launch of 2023 from the Cape. Image: Spaceflight Now
SpaceX completed double-header launch night as the end of the year approaches. A Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink 6-36 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 11:01 p.m. EST (0401 UTC) on Thursday.
This mission comes on the heels of the Falcon Heavy launch, sending the X-37B military spaceplane to orbit.
The two missions launched 2 hours 48 minutes and 40 seconds apart, marking the fastest turnaround between orbital launches from Florida since the launches of the Agena Target Vehicle and Gemini 8 on March 16, 1966, which were 1 hour 40 minutes and 59 seconds apart.
The booster supporting this mission is tail number B1069, which made its 12th flight. This was the ninth time the booster lifted off from Space Launch Complex-40 (SLC-40). It’s other three launches were from historic Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
It first launched SpaceX’s 24th Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-24) mission and would go on to launch seven Starlink missions as well.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket stands ready to launch the X-37B military spaceplane on Dec. 11, 2023. The mission was scrubbed due to poor weather and ground issues in mid-December. Image: Adam Bernstein
For the second time this month, SpaceX is gearing up to launch the X-37B military spaceplane onboard its Falcon Heavy rocket. Liftoff of the USSF-52 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is set for 8:07 p.m. EST (0107 UTC) on Thursday at the opening of a ten-minute launch window.
The launch attempt comes after SpaceX and the U.S. Space Force had to delayed the mission from Dec. 11 due to “a ground side issue”. The Falcon Heavy was returned to its hangar on Dec. 14 with SpaceX no longer sayingthe vehicle remained ‘healthy’ in its social media posts.
SpaceX didn’t elaborate on the reason or reasons for the delay, but multiple sources tells Spaceflight Now that at least one engine had to be replaced on the Falcon Heavy rocket. A second static fire test was deemed unnecessary, which allowed SpaceX to get in another launch attempt before the end of the year and reschedule the mission for Dec. 28.
Onboard the three-core rocket is the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). This will be the seventh launch in the program’s history since 2010 and the fourth flight of Vehicle 2 the second of two craft in the OTV fleet.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the launch from the Kennedy Space Center starting about 1.5 hours ahead of liftoff.
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The remains of Falcon 9 booster 1058 arrive at Port Canaveral after the vehicle toppled over and broke apart in bad weather. Image: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now.
A piece of America’s space history is now on the ocean’s floor. During its return voyage to Port Canaveral in Central Florida, a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster toppled over and broke in half.
This particular booster, tail number B1058, was coming back from its record-breaking 19th mission when it had its fatal fall. The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Dec. 23 carrying 23 Starlink satellites. The booster made a successful landing eight and a half minutes after launch on the drone ship ‘Just Read the Instructions’ which was stationed east of the Bahamas. SpaceX said in a statement on social media that it succumbed to “high winds and waves.”
The company stated that “Newer Falcon boosters have upgraded landing legs with the capability to self-level and mitigate this type of issue.
In a separate post, Kiko Deontchev, the Vice President of Launch for SpaceX, elaborated by added that while they “mostly outfitted” the rest of the operational Falcon booster fleet, B1058 was left as it was, “given its age.” The rocket “met its fate when it hit intense wind and waves resulting in failure of a partially secured [octo-grabber] less than 100 miles from home.”
SpaceX crews examine the wreckage of booster 1058 after the drone ship arrived at the dock at Port Canaveral. Image: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now.“We came up with self-leveling legs that immediately equalize leg loads on landing after experiencing a severe tippy booster two years ago on Christmas,” Deontchev wrote, referring to the first flight of the B1069 booster.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the SARah 2 & 3 satellites for the German military. The twin craft, equipped with passive synthetic aperture radar reflectors, will liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base during an 83-minute window that opens at 5:11 a.m. PST / 8:11 a.m. EST / 1311 UTC on Sunday, Dec. 24.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for a record-breaking 19th time, sending 23 Starlink satellites up to low Earth orbit. Image: Pete Carstens
Update 1:06 a.m. EST: Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket confirmed. The booster, B1058, landed on the droneship several minutes after launch.
SpaceX sent off a Falcon 9 first-stage booster for a record-breaking 19th launch just after midnight as it continues the expansion of its Starlink satellite constellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral occurred at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 UTC).
First-stage B1058 was already the fleet leader with 18 prior missions and cemented that position with the Starlink 6-32 mission, which will deliver 23 satellites to orbit. The booster first flew in May 2020 carrying astronauts for the first time on the Demo-2 Crew Dragon mission. It still features a faded NASA ‘worm’ logo from that mission.
The NASA ‘worm’ logo on B1058, seen during recovery operations following its fourth flight in December 2020. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now.The liftoff time slipped just over an hour from the opening of the window at 11 p.m. EST (0400 UTC) as the rocket wasn’t hoisted upright at the launch pad until around 7:35 p.m. EST (0035 UTC). SpaceX had backup launch opportunities available until 3 a.m. EST (0800 UTC) Saturday morning.
The 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, said Thursday there was 60-70 percent chance of acceptable weather for launch with better conditions at the opening of the window. The primary concerns were violations of the thick cloud layer and cumulus cloud rules.
ULA’s fully integrated Vulcan rocket with the addition of the payload fairings added on Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2023. On board is the main payload, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander. Image: ULA
United Launch Alliance achieved a critical milestone towards the debut of its next launch vehicle. On Wednesday, the company integrated the payload fairing on top of its Vulcan rocket, marking the first time it has put together the full stack.
The operation comes less than three weeks ahead of the target launch date for the rocket, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. Liftoff for the Certification-1 (Cert-1) mission is set for 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 UTC) from Space Launch Complex-41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Earlier this month, ULA was hoping to launch the rocket during a December window that ran from the 24th through the 26th. However, an incomplete wet dress rehearsal tanking test caused them to redo the test and therefore, pivot to the January launch window, which spans from Jan. 8-11.
Because of launch delays over at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the launch of Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander was pushed off into the February window. That means that Vulcan and its payload, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, is now set to be the first spacecraft to launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
The Cert-1 mission will be a Vulcan VC2S variant vehicle. The “2” represents the two GEM 63XL solid rocket boosters onboard and the “S” represents a short payload fairing length. The short version of the fairings are 51 feet (15.5 meters) in height and 17.7 feet (5.4 meters) in diameter.
Vice President Kamala Harris delivers opening remarks at the first meeting of the National Space Council, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021, at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. Chaired by Vice President Harris, the council’s role is to advise the President regarding national space policy and strategy, and ensuring the United States capitalizes on the opportunities presented by the country’s space activities. Image: NASA/Joel Kowsky
The furtherance of international space cooperation is expected to be at the heart of the third meeting of the National Space Council under the Biden-Harris Administration. Building on multilateral agreements, like the Artemis Accords, Harris will focus on what’s deemed the U.S. Novel Space Activities Authorization and Supervision Framework.
The proposal would permit both the Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) authority over novel space activities to, in the White House’s words, “facilitate innovation and further U.S. leadership in the safety, security and long-term sustainability of outer space activities.
A livestream of the NSC meeting will begin at approximately 2 p.m. EST (1900 UTC).
Among the highlights of the framework are a provision that updates the country’s orbital debris mitigation standard practices as well as the formation of the Private Sector Space Activities Interagency Steering Group, which the White House said will “formulate longer term policy and best practices to inform the work of regulatory agencies.”
There will also be discussions of both defense initiatives during the meeting, including bilateral agreements between the U.S. and both Japan and Norway respectively. They will also talk about the Space Force’s Regional Space Advisor program, one that is focused on encouraging shared values in space.
Firefly Aerospace is aiming to launch its fourth Alpha rocket to date before the end of 2023. The ‘Fly the Lightning’ mission will launch a satellite from Lockheed Martin using a satellite bus built by Terran Orbital. Image: Firefly Aerospace
A Blue Origin New Shepard rocket lifts off from the launch site in Van Horn, Texas, on the NS-24 mission. This was the first launch of a New Shepard rocket since the vehicle was grounded in the after math of the NS-23 anomaly. Image: Blue Origin
Updated 3:11 p.m. EST: Added comments and additional mission information from Blue Origin.
Blue Origin appears to be back in the suborbital business. Under a mostly sunny west Texas sky, the company launched its New Shepard suborbital rocket at roughly 10:42 a.m. CST (1642 UTC). This marked the 24th flight of a New Shepard rocket.
The launch was a big deal for Jeff Bezos’ company since it marked the first time in about 15 months that they were able to launch their vehicle. During the Sept. 12, 2022 launch of the NS-23 mission, the engine nozzle suffered a structural failure, forcing the mission to end prematurely.
The previously failed mission wasn’t mentioned at any point either during the launch broadcast or in Blue Origin’s social media posts about the NS-24 mission.
Onboard the capsule that flew on Tuesday were 33 science payloads and 38,000 postcards for Blue Origin’s non-profit, Club for the Future, which encourages young people to take up STEM careers.
A Falcon 9 lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 6-34 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Monday night after high winds kept the rocket grounded last week. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 with 23 Starlink satellites occurred at 11:01 p.m. EST (0401 UTC).
Blustery weather scrubbed a launch attempt last Tuesday and high seas in the recovery zone forced further delays for this mission but on Monday the winds had died down and the Falcon 9 lifted off into a chilly Florida night sky.
After lifting off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral, the Falcon 9 will head south-easterly targeting an orbit inclined 43 degrees to the Equator. Its nine Merlin 1D engines will fire for nearly two and a half minutes before the first stage separates from the second stage. The first-stage booster will continue downrange to land on the drone ship ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bahamas.
The Falcon 9 booster for Monday’s Starlink 6-34 mission, tail number B1081, was making its third flight. It previously flew two missions for NASA carrying Dragon Endurance in August with a four-member crew for the International Space Station and a Cargo Dragon on a space station resupply mission 32 days ago in November.
The rocket’s payload fairing halves were to land on parachutes a little further downrange from the drone ship and be scooped up by the support ship ‘Bob’, named after Crew Dragon Demo-2 astronaut Bob Behnken.
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 Sandra Erwin of Space News and Stephen Clark on Ars Technica. Among the stories this week: Falcon Heavy and X-37B spaceplane launch delayed, the inaugural Spacepower Conference held in Orlando, Florida, highlights the challenge posed by China, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket gets closer to launch and United Launch Alliance says it has completed a countdown dress rehearsal and is targeting Jan. 8 for the first flight of its Vulcan launcher.
A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to support the Starlink 7-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The mission also includes the first six satellites that will be used for the company’s direct-to-cell service. Image: SpaceX
Update 1:13 a.m. EST: SpaceX delayed the launch until Friday night at 9:19 p.m. PST (12:19 a.m. EST, 0519 UTC).
SpaceX is looking to rebound from a week of scuttled launches with a Falcon 9 launch from California. The Starlink 7-9 mission will feature another batch of 21 satellites heading up to low Earth orbit, something that has become almost routine for the company.
However, this late night Friday mission is unique in that it will include the first six Starlink satellites that feature direct-to-cell capabilities. SpaceX stated that the new function “will enable mobile network operators around the world to provide seamless global access to texting, calling and browsing… on land, lakes or coastal waters.”
Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket supporting the mission is targeting the opening of the launch window at 9:19 p.m. PST (12:19 a.m. EST, 0519 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage of the mission starting about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.
This direct-to-cell promise for the Starlink network is the beginning of a promise announced by SpaceX founder Elon Musk during an event in August 2022 with T-Mobile CEO and President Mike Sievert at Starbase in Texas.
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