Watch Rocket Lab launch private Earth-observing satellite to orbit tonight

Rocket Lab plans to launch an Earth-observing satellite for the company BlackSky tonight (May 28), and you can watch the action live. An Electron rocket is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand site today at 9:15 p.m. EDT (0115 GMT and 1:15 p.m. New Zealand time on May 29), carrying a “Gen-3” satellite for Virginia-based BlackSky toward low Earth orbit (LEO). Rocket Lab will stream the launch live, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff. You can watch live via the company and here at Space.com if, as expected,…

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Watch India launch its 2nd space mission of the year tonight

ISRO’s 101st Launch | PSLV-C61 / EOS-09 | 18 May 2025 – YouTube Watch On India will launch an Earth-observing radar satellite tonight (May 17) on the nation’s second mission of 2025, and you can watch the action live. The Indian Space Research Organisation‘s (ISRO) EOS-09 spacecraft is scheduled to lift off atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Centre tonight at 8:29 p.m. EDT (0029 GMT and 5:59 a.m. India Standard Time on Sunday, May 18). You can watch the launch live here at…

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Launch of Australia’s 1st homegrown orbital rocket delayed indefinitely due to payload fairing issue

We’ll have to wait a bit longer for the first-ever launch of an Australian orbital rocket. Queensland-based company Gilmour Space had aimed to debut its Eris rocket today (May 15), but a problem with the vehicle’s payload fairing scuttled that plan. “Last night, during final checks, an unexpected issue triggered the rocket’s payload fairing. No fuel was loaded, no one was hurt, and early inspections show no damage to the rocket or pad,” Gilmour Space said via X this afternoon. You may like “We’ll send a replacement fairing from our…

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NASA’s PUNCH spacecraft see a cosmic rainbow in the zodiacal light

NASA’s newest spacecraft aimed at studying the sun have captured a colorful “rainbow” in the warm glow of zodiacal light observed above Earth. The PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, which launched on March 11, consists of four small satellites working in unison in low Earth orbit to provide a comprehensive view of the sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, and study the constant stream of charged particles emitted by the sun known as solar wind. The mission delivered its first set of images, including a vivid, rainbow-colored…

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SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida

SpaceX sent another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast this morning (May 10), its second launch in a little over six hours. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT). The liftoff followed closely on the heels of another Starlink mission, which launched from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday evening (May 9). The Falcon 9’s first stage rests on the deck of a drone ship shortly after…

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites from California, lands on ship at sea

SpaceX kicked off a potentially busy weekend with the launch of a batch of Starlink satellites this evening (May 9) from California. A Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX‘s Starlink 15-3 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 8:19 p.m. EDT (5:19 p.m. local time; 0019 GMT on May 10). The stack of 26 Starlink satellites began their journey into low Earth orbit (LEO) aboard a Falcon 9 first-stage booster designated B1081. This was the 14th launch of B1081, which has supported six previous Starlink missions. Booster 1081 missions The…

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‘Right now, we are in what has to be a Golden Age of asteroid exploration.’ Scientists celebrate NASA’s latest space rock flyby

BOULDER, Colorado — Asteroid experts are pondering the scientific output from the NASA Lucy spacecraft after it shot by its celestial destination — the main belt asteroid named Donaldjohanson. Here at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), lead organization for the Lucy mission, Hal Levison, principal investigator of the Lucy mission, said the spacecraft flyby of Donaldjohanson yielded a host of “don’t know” factors about the object. As for its shape, Levison said that Donaldjohanson and the other Lucy targets are providing hints about how planets formed. “These small body populations…

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (photos)

SpaceX has launched another Starlink mission, keeping a steady pace of adding to the satellite megaconstellation every few days. A Falcon 9 rocket launched SpaceX‘s Starlink 6-75 mission Thursday night (May 1) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. The Space Coast liftoff occurred at 9:51 p.m. EDT (0151 GMT on May 2) from CCSFS’s Launch Complex-40 (LC-40) . The rocket carried 28 new Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO), where they will join a constellation of more than 7,200 broadband satellites. A long-exposure photo of the…

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Brand-new Falcon 9 rocket sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on SpaceX’s 2nd launch of the day

SpaceX sent another batch of Starlink satellites to orbit tonight (April 28), its second liftoff of the day. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 Starlink broadband satellites — including 13 with direct-to-cell capability — lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida tonight at 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 GMT on April 29). It was the second Starlink group to fly today; a Falcon 9 lofted 27 of the internet craft from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base earlier today. You may like The Falcon 9’s first stage rests on the…

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SpaceX launches 250th Starlink satellite mission, lands rocket at sea (photos)

SpaceX launched a milestone mission on Sunday night (April 27). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the company’s Starlink broadband satellites — including 13 with direct-to-cell capability — lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sunday at 10:09 p.m. EDT (0209 GMT on Monday, April 28). It was the 250th time SpaceX had sent a batch of Starlink craft skyward, the company noted via X shortly after launch. You may like A screenshot of the Falcon 9 lifting off on April 27, 2025. (Image credit: SpaceX)…

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