Space News & Blog Articles

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).

The 45th Weather Squadron in a forecast issued Thursday, predicted a 60-percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch. After days of wet and windy weather, skies cleared briefly Friday before foggy conditions descended on the Space Coast after sunset. If necessary there are as many as six additional launch opportunities Friday night into Saturday morning. The last of which is at 2:59 a.m. EST (0759 UTC).

Spaceflight Now’s live coverage of the launch will get underway about an hour before liftoff. You can also watch 24-7 views of launch pads at the Cape in our Launch Pad Live stream.

The Falcon 9 is carrying 23 second-generation V2 mini satellites and will head on a south-easterly trajectory after launching from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Following stage separation, about two and half minutes into flight, booster 1069, which is making its 11th flight, will arc towards a landing on the drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” which will be stationed about 420 miles (675 km) downrange in the Atlantic east of the Bahamas.

It will be SpaceX’s 54th Starlink delivery mission in 2023 and the company’s 84th orbital launch of the year. If all goes according to plan, the satellites, will be released into orbit an hour and five minutes after liftoff. SpaceX announced early this year it had signed up over two million subscribers in more than 60 countries for its Starlink internet service.

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.

The Federal Aviation Administration granted SpaceX the required launch license Wednesday, clearing the way for liftoff nearly seven months after the rocket suffered multiple failures and blew itself up during its maiden flight in April.

Since then, SpaceX has implemented what company founder Elon Musk said were “well over” 1,000 upgrades and improvements and carried out 63 FAA-mandated “corrections” designed to improve flight safety and performance.

“The (launch) license applies to all phases of the proposed operation,” the FAA said in a statement. “After consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and a written evaluation of the 2022 Programmatic Environmental Assessment, the FAA concluded there are no significant environmental changes.”

The Super Heavy’s liftoff from SpaceX’s Boca Chica flight test facility on the Texas Gulf Coast is targeted for 8 a.m. EST Friday, the opening of a two-hour window.

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).

Original story:

On its second Falcon 9 mission of the weekend, SpaceX will launch a pair of internet-providing satellites for Luxembourg-based company, SES. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is planned during an 89-minute window that opens at 4:08 p.m. EST (2108 UTC).

According to the 45th Weather Squadron’s launch weather forecast, there is a 70 percent chance of favorable weather at liftoff with cumulus clouds being the main watch item. Should the launch slip to Monday, weather deteriorates to the point that there would only be 40 percent favorable weather.

Spaceflight Now will have live coverage with commentary of the O3b mPOWER 5&6 launch starting about an hour before liftoff.

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.

SpaceX said the launch will include 113 payloads, 90 of which will be deployed directly from the Falcon 9 rocket. The other 23 satellites will deploy from orbital transfer vehicles at a later time.

The plurality of the payloads come from Earth observation company, Planet Labs PBC. The San Francisco-based company is sending up 36 more of its SuperDove satellites, which add to a roster of more than 500 currently on orbit. It’s also launching a technology demonstration satellite called “Pelican-1,” which will “host Planet’s next generation of imaging sensors, to be deployed as part of the Pelican and Tanager constellations.”

The mission comes at the end of a week where SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites and a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. It also comes a day before the company prepares to launch two more satellites on behalf of Luxembourg-based satellite company, SES.

The Transporter-9 mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E), after which, the first stage booster, tail number B1071, will return to VSFB for a touchdown at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4).

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.

Also on board: fresh fruit, cheese and pizza kits and “some fun holiday treats for the crew, like chocolate, pumpkin spice cappuccino, rice cakes, turkey, duck, quail, seafood, cranberry sauce and mochi,” said Dana Weigel, deputy space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center.

Liftoff from historic pad 39 at the Kennedy Space Center came at 8:28 p.m. EDT, roughly the moment Earth’s rotation carried the pad directly into the plane of the space station’s orbit. That’s a requirement for rendezvous missions with targets moving at more than 17,000 mph.

The climb to space went smoothly, and the Dragon was released to fly on its own about 12 minutes after liftoff. If all goes well, the spacecraft will catch up with the space station Saturday morning and stand by for capture by the lab’s robot arm.

The launching marked SpaceX’s 29th Cargo Dragon flight to the space station and the second mission for capsule C-211. The first stage booster, also making its second flight, flew itself back to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to chalk up SpaceX’s 39th Florida touchdown and its 243rd overall.

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.

This will be the ninth mission for SpaceX under the current Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS). The first 20 missions flew under the original resupply services contract.

Weather heading into the launch is about as ideal as possible. The 45th Weather Squadron based at Patrick Space Force Base forecast a 95 percent favorable outlook at liftoff. If needed, the 24-hour backup opportunity on 8:05 p.m. EST (0105 UTC) is 90 percent favorable.

After lifting off from the pad at LC-39A, the Falcon 9 will fly in a northeast trajectory to catch up to the ISS.

About seven-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster, B1081, will land at Landing Zone 1. This will be the second flight for this booster after launching the Crew-7 mission to the ISS earlier this year.

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.

The Falcon Heavy launch will mark the seventh flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The mini-shuttle is operated by Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, in partnership with the United States Space Force. The mission was previously dubbed USSF-52 by the U.S. Space Force.

“We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities, using the flight-proven service module and Falcon Heavy rocket to fly multiple cutting-edge experiments for the Department of the Air Force and its partners,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, the X-37B Program Director, in a statement.

The news release said the mission would see the spaceplane operate in “new orbital regimes” without any specific details. Previous X-37B missions have operated in low Earth orbit.

The spaceplane is designed for long-duration missions on orbit for various tests and experiments on behalf of the Space Force as well as NASA. This upcoming flight, OTV-7, will include a radiation experiment called “Seeds-2,” which will study the impacts of radiation on various plant seeds during long-duration spaceflight.

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.

This marks the fifth and final year of the Phase 2 National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Service Task Order awards has been issued. It also sets the stage for more launch companies to join in the mix in the future. NSSL missions help protect U.S. assets both in orbit as well as on the ground. They also host technology demonstrations and advancements in various defense capabilities.

However, financial uncertainty on Capitol Hill means that not all of the proposed missions may get funding for some time, including a demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket.

Among the 21 missions that have been assigned to ULA and SpaceX, only eight are anticipated to be ordered under a continuing resolution scenario, according to the U.S. Space Systems Command:

ULA

Updated: California launch slips.



SpaceX is planning a Starlink delivery mission from Cape Canaveral Tuesday night, the first of two planned Falcon 9 launches in less than 48 hours. Liftoff from pad 40 is scheduled for 11:01 p.m. EST (0401 UTC).

Near-perfect weather is forecast for the launch of 23 more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. U.S. Space Force meteorologists at the 45th Weather squadron said Monday there was a greater than 95-percent chance of acceptable weather for launch.

It will be the first launch from Space Launch Complex 40 since SpaceX attached a crew access arm to a recently-constructed tower as it upgrades the facility to handle crew and cargo Dragon flights.

The crew access arm is manuevered into place on the newly constructed tower at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

A crew access arm was lifted into place at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral on Monday, as SpaceX races to ready the pad for its first Crew Dragon launch with astronauts as soon as January.

Multiple sources tell SpaceFlight Now that Axiom Space’s third private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will likely mark the debut of the new tower, thanks to a packed schedule at Launch Complex-39A. The mission, commanded by former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, will send three European astronauts on a trip to the space station for up to 14 days.

Currently, SpaceX and Russia’s agency, Roscosmos, are the only tickets to the ISS and it’s the lone option currently in the United States until Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft enters the rotation next year.

Not only that, but SpaceX currently only has one launch pad from which it can launch astronauts, as well as cargo missions, to the ISS: Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Over the course of 2023, SpaceX has been working to change that with the construction of a new crew and cargo access tower at its second Florida launch pad: Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at CCSFS.

Aerial view of the fully stacked Starship vehicle at Starbase, Texas, on Sept. 6, 2023. Image: SpaceX.

More than half a year after its first flight, SpaceX believes it’s on the cusp of getting to launch its Starship rocket for a second time.

On Friday afternoon, the company updated its website to announce that the second integrated flight test (IFT-2) of it’s towering rocket “could launch as soon as mid-November, pending regulatory approval.” Sources suggest the launch could be as soon as Nov. 13, but that’s far from set in stone.

Those regulatory hurdles surrounding the fully reusable launch vehicle are now mainly centered around the conclusion of an environmental review, which is in the hands of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Earlier this week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it had concluded the Starship-Super Heavy safety review. In a statement to Spaceflight Now, the agency said that “The environmental review is the last major element to complete before the FAA makes a license determination.”

SpaceX will debut a number of upgrades to both the rocket itself as well as the launch infrastructure, including their new hot-stage separation system and an electronic Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system.

A Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky, sending 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites on their way to low Earth orbit. This was the 18th launch and landing of this booster, tail number 1058. Image: Michael Cain

SpaceX broke another re-flight record on Friday evening with the launch of 23 more Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 booster making its 18th flight.

The Starlink 6-26 mission launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 8:37 p.m. EDT (0037 UTC on Nov. 4). It sent 23 Starlink V2 Mini satellites up to low Earth orbit, which will bring the total Starlink satellites launched in 2023 up to 1,711.

The booster for this mission, tail number B1058, is the oldest, currently flying Falcon 9 booster. It first flew on May 30, 2020, launching former NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station on the Demo-2 mission. This was the first flight of the Commercial Crew Program with astronauts on board. SpaceX has since flown seven crew rotation missions up to the orbiting outpost, in addition to two private astronaut missions.

Following liftoff, the booster landed on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas,’ about eight-and-a-half minutes into the mission.

As SpaceX continues working towards adding Dragon capabilities to SLC-40 with a new crew access tower, Friday night’s mission will marked the 152nd orbital launch for the company since it began using the launch pad. This will be the 207th overall launch from this site.

Jasmin Moghbeli, wearing a spacesuit with red stripes, works with Loral O’Hara to secure insulation around a failed radio communications unit during the fourth all-female spacewalk. Image: NASA TV.

Astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara worked outside the International Space Station Wednesday to replace a bearing assembly in one of the lab’s solar array rotation mechanisms. But the task took longer than expected and they were unable to retrieve a failed electronics box as planned.

It was the first spacewalk for Moghbeli and O’Hara, the fourth all-female excursion and the first such outing since January 2020 when Jessica Meir and Christina Koch completed their third EVA, or extra-vehicular activity.

The year’s 12th spacewalk began at 8:05 a.m. EDT when Moghbeli and O’Hara switched their spacesuits to battery power.

The two major goals of the 269th station spacewalk were to replace a degraded bearing assembly in one of the station’s two solar array rotation mechanisms and to retrieve a failed communications component stored on an external platform so it could be shipped back to Earth for repairs.

O’Hara focused on replacing the bearing assembly in the station’s left-side solar alpha rotary joint, or SARJ, which rotates outboard solar arrays to maximize energy production. Each SARJ is equipped with 12 bearing assemblies that clamp onto a rotating 10.5-foot-wide “race ring.”

Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander in the clean room at Astrotech in Titusville, Florida. The spacecraft will be the main payload onboard the first launch of ULA’s Vulcan rocket. Image: ULA

The first payload teed up for NASA’s industry-led missions to the Moon has arrived in Florida. Astrobotic announced on Halloween that its Peregrine lunar lander was unpacked inside a clean room on the Space Coast after leaving Astrobotic’s facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday.

The mission will be the first for both Astrobotic and its ride to space, United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. President and CEO Tory Bruno said in a tweet on Tuesday that the launch time on Dec. 24 is 1:49 am EST (0649 UTC).

“It’s incredibly thrilling. We’ve been talking about this mission for 16 years as an organization, our first mission to the Moon, and now it’s finally here,” said Dan Hendrickson, Astrobotic’s Vice President of Business Development. “The team is exhilarated, anxious to get off the launchpad and ready to fly. So really, it’s a dream come true now that we’re here.”

Hendrickson spoke with Spaceflight Now on the sidelines of the American Astronautical Society’s von Braun Space Exploration Symposium on Oct. 27, the day that the Peregrine lander hit the road to head down to Florida.

Hendrickson said it will be a fairly straightforward process for them to get to launch, now that they’re in the Sunshine State. He said teams with Astrobotic have been working with ULA for months about the fueling steps, transportation to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility and integration on top of the Centaur 5 upper stage.

SpaceX’s Starship rocket stands fully stacked near the shoreline of Texas at its Starbase facility on Oct. 20, 2023. On Oct. 31, the FAA said it concluded its safety review ahead of its second test flight. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX’s highly anticipated second test flight of its Starship super heavy lift rocket is one step closer to liftoff from South Texas. On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced the conclusion of its safety review.

The agency issued a brief statement noting the this portion of the assessment wrapped up on Oct. 31. It describes the safety review as being “focused on issues that affect public health and safety of property.”

“It consists of evaluating the applicant’s safety organization, system safety processes, flight safety analysis, and quantitative risk criteria for launch, reentry, and vehicle disposal,” the FAA stated.

The biggest outstanding piece of the equation before the second integrated flight test is the environmental review, which is being done in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

On Oct. 5, the FAA sent its final biological assessment to FWS. The latter agency had up to 30 days to review that document, but announced that it finished that review on Oct. 19 and reinitiated its formal Endangered Species Act consultation with the FAA.

A Falcon 9 booster, making its eighth flight, lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Oct. 30. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.

A Falcon 9 carrying 23 more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service lifted off from Cape Canaveral Monday, bringing the total number of Starlinks currently in orbit to more than 5,000 satellites. Liftoff from pad 40 occurred at 7:20 p.m. EDT (2320 UTC).

On Sunday night the countdown reached T-30 seconds when an abort was called. The launch director said a problem was detected with the system used to separate the first and second stages of the rocket and launch was pushed back to Monday.

After lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the Falcon 9 pitched and rolled onto a south-easterly trajectory as it targeted an orbit inclined at 43 degrees to the equator.

The first-stage booster, making its eighth flight, successfully touched down on the drone ship Just Read the Instructions, stationed east of the Bahamas, about eight and a half minutes after launch.

The booster, tail number B1077, first flew in October 2022, carrying Crew 5 to the International Space Station aboard Dragon Endurance. It went on to fly the GPS III F6, Inmarsat I6-F2, CRS-28, and Intelsat G-37 missions, plus two prior Starlink delivery flights.

File photo of SpaceX’s Starlink V2 Mini satellites inside a payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral earlier this year. Credit: SpaceX

Update 8:38 p.m. EDT (0038 UTC): A scrub was called at T-30 seconds to liftoff. The launch team will target its next launch attempt with a 24-hour recycle. The launch window opens at 7:20 p.m. EDT (2320 UTC).

Original story:

SpaceX is gearing up to launch 23 more satellites for its Starlink internet service from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, its second Falcon 9 launch of the day. Liftoff from pad 40 is scheduled for 8:17 p.m. EDT (0017 UTC).

Earlier Sunday, a Falcon 9 lofted 22 Starlinks from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. That launch brought the number of Starlink satellites currently in orbit to 4,989, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX will have more than 5,000 Starlink satellites in orbit by the end of the day.

A forecast issued by the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral on Saturday gave the Falcon 9 an 85-percent chance of favorable conditions for launch. The main concerns are violations of liftoff wind limits and rules associated with lightning-triggering cumulus clouds. There was a low to moderate risk of poor weather in the booster recovery area near the Bahamas.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Oct. 29, 2023, carrying 22 Starlink satellites. Image: SpaceX.

The first of two Falcon 9 missions SpaceX is planning for Sunday carried into orbit the largest batch of second-generation Starlink satellites to be launched from the West Coast. It was the 50th Starlink launch of the year.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2 a.m. PDT (5 a.m. EDT / 0900 UTC) with 22 satellites aboard.

The California launch will be followed on Sunday by another Starlink delivery mission carrying 23 satellites, which will launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 UTC).

The Starlink 7-6 mission was the first time a Falcon 9 has carried 22 of the so-called V2 Mini satellites from the West Coast. Previously, missions from there had been limited to 15 or 21 Starlinks, depending on the orbit. On the East Coast, a Falcon 9 launched 23 V2 Minis a week ago on Oct. 21, one more than the previous maximum load for a mission from the Cape.

SpaceX has not explained how it is achieving this extra delivery capacity. It’s possibly due an improvement in the rated performance of the Falcon 9 or perhaps a manufacturing change that has reduced the satellites’ total weight.

The completed Nova-C lander for the IM-1 mission is photographed in mid-October at Intuitive Machines’ facilities in Houston, Texas, ahead of it being shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida. Image: Intuitive Machines

The first lunar lander aiming for a touchdown at the Moon’s south pole has a new launch date. Intuitive Machines said Friday it is targeting the launch of its Nova-C lander on the IM-1 mission for no earlier than January 12, 2024.

Trent Martin, the Vice President of Lunar Access at Intuitive Machines, told Spaceflight Now it’s a good feeling to finally reach this point.

“We began this journey on IM-1 back in 2019. Hoping to launch a little bit earlier. We ran into some technical difficulties and solving those problems means getting to this point, where you have a vehicle and it’s ready to go launch, make it even more exciting because you know you solved some problems, some really technical, difficult problems,” said Martin, who was attending the von Braun Space Exploration Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama.

“We’re ready and the vehicle’s tested and checked out. Everything we need to do is wrapped up and ready to go. Just getting ready to ship it down to the Cape.”

Martin said the Nova-C lander will be transported from the company’s facilities in Houston, Texas, down to Florida in late November for final pre-launch processing.

Lisa Watson-Morgan, program manager for the Human Landing System program, moderates a fireside chat with Benji Reed, Sr. Director of Human Spaceflight Programs at SpaceX (left) and John Couluris, Sr. VP of Lunar Transportation at Blue Origin. Image: Will Robinson-Smith

After a successful mission with Artemis 1 in November, 2022, and with the pieces of the Artemis 2 architecture coming together for a launch targeting late 2024, NASA continues to simultaneously push towards the big items that are key to the future missions.

One of the biggest outstanding feats is getting ready to actually bring humans to the surface of the Moon. Overseeing that aspect of the missions, starting with Artemis 3, is Dr. Lisa Watson-Morgan, the manager of the Human Landing System (HLS) program operating at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

In a sit-down interview with Spaceflight Now amid the von Braun Space Exploration Symposium, Watson-Morgan said getting these landers ready for their debuts on the Artemis 3 and Artemis 5 mission respectively for SpaceX and Blue Origin provide both numerous challenges as well as unique opportunities.

“I think we have great, great challenges in front of us,” Watson-Morgan said. “Right now, today, I don’t see anything that’s stopping us, but that’s today.”

She pointed to some of the leaps forward in rocket capabilities from SpaceX as a barometer for pulling off the lunar landing capability of its Starship rocket. Watson-Mogran also noted that the Blue Origin-led team has Lockheed Martin as a partner, which brings expertise from the Orion program with it.