This Thursday, Elon Musk will finally update the world on what SpaceX has been doing down there in South Texas. Below is what we expect Elon Musk to talk about when he takes the stage.
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Back at CES 2022, we had a chance to speak with Ken Shields, Sierra Space‘s Director of Commercial Market Development, about the company’s plans for its Dream Chaser space plane and LIFE Habitat.
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Launching NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 41 mission, Astra is attempting its first-ever east coast launch. Astra successfully reached orbit last year after three failed attempts from the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska. This mission is the first time Astra will deploy satellites – four in total from various universities and NASA centers.
Launch Date: Thursday, February 10, 3:00 p.m. EST
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According to Coast Guard documents, SpaceX’s contracted Dragon recovery ships will be renamed in honor of NASA Astronauts Shannon Walker and Megan McArthur.
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Starbase life is not a normal one. Between the construction of a private spaceport never before seen at this scale and the testing of SpaceX‘s Starship rocket, life can get weird down there. To add to that, Jared Issacman paid a visit with two of his old fighter jets over the weekend.
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Astra attempted to launch NASA’s ELaNa (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites) 41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station; however, some range equipment failed, not allowing the company to launch safely.
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On Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX launched its first mission from Vandenberg for 2022, carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.
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SpaceX is preparing to launch a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office from its west coast launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base. This will also feature an RTLS landing right next to the launch pad at its landing pad.
Launch Date: Wednesday, February 2, 3:27 p.m. EST
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After four days of delays, including a bizarre cruise ship rage violation, SpaceX finally launched Italy’s Cosmo-Skymed Second Generation 2 satellite from Florida.
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In preparation for the retirement of the International Space Station by the end of the decade, NASA awarded three companies for the development of new commercial alternatives. Many other companies failed in their bids, and NASA recently explained why these options weren’t chosen.
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We are inching closer and closer to the long-awaited launch of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Engineers just completed another milestone test working towards seeing SLS roll out from the VAB for the first time.
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After a month of travel and nail-biting deployments, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange Point on January 24.
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Seven years ago, SpaceX launched its first mission out of Earth orbit for NOAA, and since then, its upper stage has stuck around. But, according to a community of observers, it will meet an end crashing into the Moon soon.
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Today United Launch Alliance launched its first mission of 2022, and the final unflown configuration of the Atlas V rocket. Onboard were two space surveillance satellites for the US Space Force.
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Three former engineers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX have formed a startup to innovate in the rail transportation market, using electric and autonomous rail carts to shuttle shipping containers to where they need to go.
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So far in January, SpaceX has launched three Falcon 9 rockets, two of which broke the 10 flight milestone. Both of these milestone-breaking missions took place just in the last week.
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Rocket Lab, everyone’s favorite US / New Zealand-based smallsat launcher, announced the first launch of its Electron rocket for the year, and yes, it’s going to be BlackSky satellites.
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The newest smallsat launcher to come online is preparing to launch its first mission from Florida’s Space Coast, but it will need to wait for a license from the FAA.
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After becoming a publically traded company last week, Richard Branson’s commercial launch provider, Virgin Orbit, is preparing for its first launch of 2022. Onboard will be four payloads from both civil and commercial entities. Continuing on with fun names Virgin Orbit has given its mission, this one is called “Above the Clouds.”
Launch Date: Wednesday, January 12, ~5:00 p.m. EST (Takeoff: ~4:00 p.m. EST)
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Astra is set to launch its next mission from Florida’s Space Coast rather than Alaska, where the company conducted its previous launches. Today we saw the first signs of Astra’s launch readiness with a vertical rocket on its launch site.
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Early tomorrow morning, while those who celebrate Christmas will be busy opening gifts, NASA and Arianespace will be launching the most powerful space telescope ever built. Check before for updates on this once-in-a-generation launch.
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The news that no one wants to hear is a failure in one of the James Webb Space Telescope‘s deployment processes. While there isn’t a rescue plan, you bet NASA has thought about one.
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Over the weekend, we finally got to watch the James Webb Space Telescope begin its journey to space. The long-awaited telescope launch was followed by celebrations from both the President and Vice-President.
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While the week of Christmas was a slow one, there were two highly anticipated launches. Check out this week’s top stories below.
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