Update July 2: Rocket Lab is pushing the launch back two days to July 5 in hopes of better launch weather conditions.

Update July 3: Now the launch is set for July 4! Watch live below:

Update 3: July 4: Rocket Lab reports a loss of vehicle and payload during the mission. More details to come.

Rocket Lab will be ready for its next launch just three weeks after Saturday’s mission “Don’t Stop Me Now,” reinforcing the increasingly fast launch capabilities of the small satellite launch company.

The new mission is named “Pics Or It Didn’t Happen” after the number of Earth imaging satellites being deployed in space. The next Electron launch is scheduled to take place from Launch Complex 1 Pad A at the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand on July 3.

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SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this afternoon at 3:55 p.m. EDT. SpaceX is sending the GPS III Space Vehicle 3 to space to join a constellation of 31 existing global positioning system satellites operated by the United States.

Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land on the SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Atlantic Ocean 8 minutes 30 seconds after liftoff. The GPS III satellite payload will be deployed in space 1 hour and 29 minutes after liftoff.

Watch the launch, landing, and deployment below.

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Update: “Standing down from today’s Starlink mission; team needed additional time for pre-launch checkouts, but Falcon 9 and the satellites are healthy,” SpaceX says. “Will announce new target launch date once confirmed on the Range.”

SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center this afternoon at 4:18 p.m. EDT. SpaceX is sending its next batch of 57 Starlink satellites to space. These satellites will be used for a new global broadband service that will focus on bringing internet connectivity to rural areas.

The rocket launch is also a ridesharing mission that will include two BlackSky satellites. Today’s mission will mark the second ridesharing mission for SpaceX Starlink launches.

Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land 8 minutes 24 seconds after liftoff. The 59 satellite payload will be deployed in space shortly after 1 hour from liftoff.

Watch the launch, landing, and deployment below.

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Updates June 10-June 12:

• Liftoff from New Zealand will be at 10:13 p.m. PT/1:13 a.m. ET.
• Launch countdown is currently on hold due to high wind speeds in the area. The clock will recycle to T-12 minutes if weather improves.
• Out of hold! 2:08 a.m. ET liftoff.
• Hold again at 2:06 a.m. ET. 13 minutes left to recycle the countdown to T-12 minutes before the launch window closes until tomorrow.
• Scrubbed due to wind speeds on first launch attempt. Next attempt will be June 13, 12:43 a.m. ET.
• New launch target: June 13, 12:53 a.m. ET … now 1:12 a.m. ET.
• Success!

Rocket Lab plans to launch payloads into space for three customers including NASA this week from its launch site in New Zealand. The small satellite launch service provider will use its Electron rocket to deploy satellites in Earth orbit on a mission called “Don’t Stop Me Now” as soon as Thursday, June 11.

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Update June 11: Livestream for Starlink launch on May 13 at 5:21 a.m. now available.

SpaceX is flexing its rocket-launching muscles in June. Four days after its historic crewed launch on May 30, SpaceX prepared the next Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff on June 3.

If the rest of the month goes as planned, SpaceX will have hit a new company record with four launches in a single month. SpaceX first hit three launches in a single month in June 2017, a launch cadence not seen since January 2020.

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Mars 2020 is the next big mission for NASA after sending the first astronauts to the space station on a SpaceX rocket. In July, NASA’s newest Mars rover named ‘Perseverance’ will launch for Mars from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

From studying signs of past life on Mars to preparing for human life, the new Mars rover will have four long-term science goals once it reaches Martian soil:

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It’s been four days since SpaceX launched something into orbit, and that can only mean one thing. It’s time to prepare a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff and do it all over again.

Only this time the cargo won’t be NASA astronauts. SpaceX is deploying its latest round of Starlink satellites for its upcoming global internet service for less populated parts of the world.

If weather conditions allow, SpaceX will launch tonight at 9:25 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Watch the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch live stream below starting at 9:15 p.m. EDT.

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SpaceX called off the first launch attempt on Wednesday due to weather concerns. The next attempt will be on Saturday, May 30, at 3:22 p.m.

SpaceX is sending humans to space for the first time this week in a historic mission called Demo-2 for Elon Musk’s space exploration company. The crew consists of two NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who previously flew on space shuttle missions. The crewed test flight will mark the return of human spaceflight capabilities in the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade.

From how to watch to why it matters, here’s what you need to know:

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Update 5/24/2020 8:37 p.m. EDT: New launch target between 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT on Monday, May 25

Update 5/25/2020 3:56 p.m. EDT: Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket had a clean release from the wing of the Cosmic Girl 747, but the mission terminated shortly after release. Virgin Orbit says the crew and aircraft are safe.

A rocket typically lifts off from a launchpad to move a payload from the ground to somewhere in space, but Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit sees another path to sending orbital vehicles and satellites to low Earth orbit.

How does dropping a rocket into free fall from an airplane named Cosmic Girl before its engines fire off sound?

Virgin Orbit planned to complete the first orbital flight test of its LauncherOne rocket today to demonstrate just that, but a “minor sensor issue” has caused Virgin Orbit to scrub the test flight for Sunday.

The company believes the sensor problem can be resolved with a quick turnaround, however, suggesting a potential Memorial Day orbital flight test for LauncherOne.

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Update 4/21/20: SpaceX says the launch today is now set for 3:30 p.m. EDT.

Update 4/20/20 5:13 p.m. EDT: Citing a more favorable weather forecast on Wednesday, SpaceX is now targeting Wednesday, April 22, at 3:37 p.m. EDT.

Update 4/20/20: Launch windows are hard, but this change is positive. SpaceX is once again targeting Thursday, April 23, at 3:16 p.m. EDT.

Update 4/15/20: SpaceX is now targeting Friday, April 24, 2020.

Update 4/14/20: SpaceX is now targeting Thursday, April 23, 2020.

Update 4/13/20: The launch target has slipped from April 16; no new date yet.

SpaceX is targeting Thursday, April 16, for its next Starlink mission to deploy a batch of 60 satellites to low Earth orbit.

The mission will mark SpaceX’s seventh Starlink launch and sixth deployment of operational satellites. Starlink will provide satellite internet access to North America and around the world as the constellation of small satellites is built out.

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