Space News & Blog Articles

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 46 Starlink internet satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX’s Starlink 4-21 mission lifted off July 7 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched another group of 53 satellites from Cape Canaveral for the company’s Starlink internet network Thursday, the same day it unveiled a new maritime broadband service. Federal regulators recently approved SpaceX’s request to provide Starlink connectivity for mobile users.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Starlink 4-21 mission launched SpaceX’s next batch of 53 Starlink broadband satellites. Follow us on Twitter.

File photo from April of a Falcon 9 rocket standing on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

Fifty-three more Starlink internet satellites are fastened to the top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff Thursday from Cape Canaveral, the first of five Falcon 9 flights scheduled for July.

From left to right: A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launches June 4 with the Shenzhou 14 astronaut mission; A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Feb. 3 with a batch of Starlink internet satellites on Feb. 3; A Soyuz rocket launches Feb. 10 with a cluster of OneWeb internet satellites. Credit: Xinhua/SpaceX/Arianespace

If it feels like there are more rockets launching into orbit than ever before, it’s not just you. The world’s launch operators, led by SpaceX and China’s state-run enterprises, launched 72 missions into orbit in the first half of 2022, on pace to break last year’s record of 135 orbital deliveries.

A camera on-board Virgin Orbit’s first stage captured this view of the main engine plume during the climb into space. Credit: Virgin Orbit

Virgin Orbit’s air-launched rocket carried seven small CubeSats into orbit on the company’s first nighttime mission late Friday night off the coast of California, helping clear the way for teams to base the next Virgin Orbit launch from the United Kingdom later this year.

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, to begin the USSF-12 mission for the U.S. Space Force. Credit: United Launch Alliance

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket fired off its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Friday on a six-hour climb to geosynchronous orbit, deploying a classified payload and a U.S. Space Force satellite to test an improved infrared heat-sensitive sensor design that could help detect and track enemy hypersonic missiles.

NASA’s Artemis 1 moon rocket stands on pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center on June 30. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

NASA’s powerful new Space Launch System moon rocket will be hauled from its launch pad back to the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center overnight Friday into early Saturday morning for final repairs, testing and closeouts, moving closer to liftoff later this summer after completing a fueling demonstration last month.

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from the Indian east coast with three Singaporean satellites. Credit: ISRO

Three Singaporean satellites lifted off Thursday on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and rocketed into an orbit more than 350 miles above Earth to begin missions supporting military surveillance, technology demonstrations, and solar research.

ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket, with a lightning strike in the background, during Thursday evening’s countdown. Credit: United Launch Alliance

Officials scrubbed the launch of an Atlas 5 rocket for the U.S. Space Force Thursday due to the risk of lightning from nearby thunderstorms, delaying the liftoff of the $1.1 billon mission until Friday evening.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission, known as USSF 12, will launch the U.S. Space Force’s Wide Field of View Testbed satellite and the USSF 12 Ring spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

SpaceX’s 27th mission of the year lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT) Wednesday. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography

SpaceX closed out the first half of 2022 with its 27th mission of the year, powering a commercial television broadcasting satellite into orbit for SES on a Falcon 9 rocket as the company is poised to break its annual launch record in the coming weeks.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle with the DS-EO, NeuSAR, and SCOOB 1 satellites for Singapore. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket. The air-launched rocket will climb into orbit with seven small satellite payloads after release from a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft southwest of Los Angeles. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket under the wing of the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft. Credit: Virgin Orbit

The first nighttime flight of Virgin Orbit’s commercial air-launched rocket is on track for Wednesday night off the coast of California, carrying seven small payloads into orbit on a mission for the U.S. military’s Space Test Program.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station before launch with the SES 22 communications satellite. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is preparing to launch a television broadcasting satellite Wednesday for SES, with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral set for 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 GMT).

United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket inside the Vertical Integration Facility earlier this month. Credit: United Launch Alliance

United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral are preparing to roll an Atlas 5 rocket to its launch pad Wednesday, moving the launcher into position for liftoff Thursday evening with a pair of geostationary satellites for the U.S. Space Force.

The SES 22 communications satellite during encapsulation inside SpaceX’s payload fairing. Credit: SpaceX

A new European-built television broadcasting satellite to cover the United States is set for liftoff Wednesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the first of 11 SES-owned telecom spacecraft scheduled to fly on six launches from Cape Canaveral by the end of the year.

Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher fires off the pad in New Zealand with NASA’s CAPSTONE mission. Credit: Rocket Lab

NASA’s $30 million CAPSTONE mission lifted off Tuesday on a Rocket Lab launcher from New Zealand, departing Earth on a circuitous but fuel-efficient four-month journey toward a halo orbit around the moon to test technologies and operations for the Artemis moon program.