Tag: Launches & Spacecraft

You know how the James Webb Space Telescope is said to be revolutionizing astronomy because it can study wavelengths hidden to human eyes? Well, those wavelengths lie in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum — and on April 1, NASA announced its brand new infrared space telescope, SPHEREx, has officially opened its eyes to the cosmos as well. This first light, as it’s called, shows that all of the spacecraft’s systems are working just as expected. “Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the…

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SpaceX just launched the first-ever human spaceflight to circle Earth over its poles. The private Fram2 mission lifted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida today (March 31) at 9:46 p.m. EDT (0146 GMT on April 1), sending the Crew Dragon capsule “Resilience” into a polar orbit with a quartet of spaceflight rookies aboard. Fram2 is commanded Chun Wang of Malta, who is joined by vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen from Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany, and Australian medical officer and…

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A dramatic drone video shows Isar Aerospace’s first orbital launch attempt, which ended with a fiery crash into the frigid sea about 30 seconds after liftoff. The Germany company’s first Spectrum rocket lifted off Sunday morning (March 30) from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway on the first-ever orbital launch attempt from European soil. Spectrum cleared the tower but suffered an anomaly shortly thereafter. The rocket flipped over and slammed into the ocean near the pad, sending an orange-tinted cloud high into a clear Arctic sky, as the video shows. Isar…

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The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed its investigation into Flight 7 of SpaceX’s huge Starship vehicle, which ended with a dramatic explosion over the Atlantic Ocean. Flight 7 sent Starship aloft from SpaceX‘s Starbase site in South Texas on Jan. 16. Things went well at first; Starship’s first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, came back to Starbase for a launch-tower landing about seven minutes after liftoff as planned. However, the giant rocket’s 171-foot-tall (52-meter) upper stage exploded high in the sky a few minutes later, sending debris raining…

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The U.S. Space Force has certified United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket to launch national security missions. The news, which the Space Force announced on Wednesday (March 26), doubles the number of National Security Space Launch (NSSL) providers. ULA joins SpaceX in this select group. “Assured access to space is a core function of the Space Force and a critical element of national security,” Brig. Gen. Kristin Panzenhagen, the Space Force’s program executive officer for assured access to space, said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. “Vulcan certification…

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SpaceX launched a stack of Starlink internet satellites to orbit from California and returned the booster to Earth Friday afternoon (March 26). The Falcon 9 rocket flying the mission, Starlink 11-7, carried a total of 27 satellites to orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California. The SpaceX rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4E at 6:11:40 p.m. ET (2211 GMT). A little more than eight minutes later, the rocket’s first-stage booster, B1063, touched down on the SpaceX droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” stationed in the Pacific Ocean.…

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SpaceX will set a new rocket-reuse record early Friday morning (March 21), if all goes according to plan. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base Friday at 2:49 a.m. EDT (0649 GMT; 11:49 p.m. on March 20 local California time), on the NROL-57 mission for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). This rocket’s first stage also lofted the SPHEREx space telescope and PUNCH solar probes for NASA on March 11, according to a SpaceX mission description. An on-time liftoff for NROL-57 would…

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SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida this afternoon (March 18). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink craft, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 GMT). About eight minutes later, the rocket’s first stage touched down on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 19th launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a company mission description. A…

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SpaceX just pulled off a spaceflight tripleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites, including 13 with direct-to-cell capability, lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 15) at 7:35 a.m. EDT (1135 GMT). It was SpaceX‘s third launch in a 13-hour span, as the company noted via X this morning. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 15, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX) The rocket flurry began at 7:03 p.m.…

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Update for 12:15 a.m. ET on March 15: Firefly has called off the planned March 15 liftoff attempt due to an issue with the launch range. No new target date has been announced. Firefly Aerospace will launch its Alpha rocket for the sixth time ever on Saturday morning (March 15), and you can watch the action live. Alpha is scheduled to lift off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Saturday during a 52-minute window that opens at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT; 6:25 a.m. local California time). Firefly will…

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