Launch

After a week-long hiatus of launches, SpaceX is planning to launch another batch of 60 satellites for their Starlink internet constellation. This will use up to 12,000 satellites to provide high-speed internet service around the globe with zero interruption. If launched by the end of the month, this will tie SpaceX’s record of 4 launches in a single calendar month.

Date: Wednesday, March 24th, 4:28 AM EDT

Rocket Lab is preparing for the 19th Mission of their Electron later today, at 6:30 pm Eastern time. This rideshare launch, “They Go Up So Fast”, will deliver 7 satellites into orbit for customers including BlackSky, the University of New South Wales, and the US Army’s Space and Missile Defense command.

On the heels of their last launch earlier this week, SpaceX is already planning to launch their next batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit as soon as this weekend. Starlink will provide worldwide high-speed internet through the use of thousands of satellites in low earth orbit.

Date: Sunday, March 14th, 6:01 AM EDT

SpaceX’s Starlink internet constellation is growing every month with the California-based aerospace company launching between 2 and 3 batches of Starlink satellites each month, the next for this month coming in the next couple of days.

Brazil is about to launch its first fully developed and operated satellite in the country. Amazonia 1, as it’s called, is scheduled to be launched into space in the early hours of this Sunday morning in Brazil (or Saturday night if you’re in the US), and you can watch the launch live on the web.

In a widely anticipated announcement, U.S. Space Force and Air Force officials awarded Phase II of U.S. national security missions launch contracts to ULA and SpaceX as the primary launch providers through 2027. The NSSL (National Security Space Launch) Contract is a firm-fixed-price that will support launches planned from fiscal 2022 – fiscal 2027.

These contracts include early integration studies, launch service support, fleet surveillance, launch vehicle production, mission integration, mission launch operations, mission assurance, spaceflight worthiness, and mission unique activities for each mission.

Update: SpaceX targeting 5:30 p.m. EDT due to local weather in Florida.

SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida today at 5 p.m. EDT. The launch window will be open for 3 hours 55 minutes. SpaceX is sending a communications satellite called ANASIS 2 to space for the South Korean military.

The first stage of the two-staged rocket was previously used to send NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station for the historic SpaceX Demo-2 mission. Falcon 9’s first stage will attempt to land for a second time 8 minutes 31 seconds after liftoff. The ANASIS 2 satellite will be deployed 32 minutes 29 seconds after launch.

Northrop Grumman’s 78-foot-tall Minotaur IV expendable launch system is lifting off from NASA’s Wallops Island flight facility in Virginia. The launch is the first Minotaur IV launch from Virginia’s Space Coast and the first National Reconnaissance Office launch using the Minotaur IV system.

Today’s Minotaur IV launch is also the first use of the expendable launch system since August 2017. The system has been used for a total of seven launches since April 2010, and one to two additional launches are already planned. NASA says the next launch from Wallops Flight Facility will be sometime in mid-August.

Minotaur rockets are created using decommissioned MX Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles created in the late 80s and early 90s.

Update on July 11: “Standing down from today’s launch of the tenth Starlink mission to allow more time for checkouts; team is working to identify the next launch opportunity. Will announce a new target date once confirmed with the Range,” SpaceX announced.

SpaceX will attempt to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday at 10:54 a.m. EDT. SpaceX is sending its tenth batch of Starlink satellites to space. These satellites will be used for a new global broadband service that will focus on bringing internet connectivity to underserved 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.

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.

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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Current launch target:Thursday, July 30, at 750 a.m. EDT with August 15 deadline extension

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:

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.

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.

NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy will make the journey from Earth to the International Space Station on Thursday, April 9. Astronaut Cassidy, who is also a U.S. Navy SEAL, will fly with Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

The crew will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan using a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, joining NASA flight engineers Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir and Roscosmos Expedition 62 Commander Oleg Skripochka.

Astronaut Cassidy, who is returning to space for his third spaceflight, will take on the role of Expedition 63 Commander once the crew of Expedition 62 leaves the ISS on Friday, April 17.

Astronaut Jessica Meir made history during her time on the ISS by completing the first all-female space walk with Astronaut Christina Koch.

Thursday, March 26, 2020 is launch day at Space Launch Complex-41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. United Launch Alliance is completing the Sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency, or AEHF-6, mission for the United States Space Force.