Tag: Launches & Spacecraft

Now in the works is a retro look back in time at a bizarre Cold War caper by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) thanks to a forthcoming, star-studded comedy/drama movie called “Lunik Heist.” Earlier this month, Searchlight Pictures, a Disney-owned division, announced that actors Jared Leto, Lupita Nyong’o, and John Mulaney have signed on to star in “Lunik Heist,” described as a “a wild, roller-coaster ride, filled with subterfuge and unlikely heroes.” The film is based on a real-life incident that saw CIA operatives plot to disassemble and inspect one…

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The University of Southern California’s student rocketeers have done it again. The USC Rocket Propulsion Lab (USCRPL) — which in 2019 became the first student organization ever to launch a rocket to space — sent its Aftershock II vehicle 470,400 feet (89.09 miles, or 143.38 kilometers) above Earth last month. That smashed the amateur altitude record of 380,000 feet (71.97 miles, or 115.82 km), which was set in 2004 by the Civilian Space Exploration Team. “This achievement represents several engineering firsts,” Ryan Kraemer, the executive engineer of USCRPL and an…

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SpaceX’s Starship megarocket has come together ahead of its sixth-ever test flight next week. SpaceX has stacked Starship‘s two elements — the Super Heavy booster and Ship upper-stage spacecraft — on the orbital launch mount at its Starbase site in South Texas. The company confirmed the milestone in a Friday night X post, which featured four photos of the stacking process and its aftermath. A fully stacked Starship stands nearly 400 feet (122 meters) tall. (Image credit: SpaceX via X) That post also announced a date change for the flight:…

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SpaceX is gearing up to launch its next Starship test flight, a mission that will attempt a second catch of the world’s largest rocket on Tuesday (Nov. 19). But if you’re hoping to watch the launch live online, you’ll need to know when to tune in. Currently, SpaceX’s Starship Flight 6 test flight is scheduled to launch no earlier than Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 5 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) from the company’s Starbase site in South Texas, near Boca Chica Beach. This will be SpaceX’s sixth test flight of a…

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SpaceX launched 24 of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida early this morning (Nov. 14) in the second half of a spaceflight doubleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 24 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 8:21 a.m. EST (1321 GMT.) The four-hour launch window opened at 5:33 a.m. EST (0933 GMT) just five hours after another Falcon 9 launched 20 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth about eight minutes after liftoff…

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SpaceX is set to tie its rocket-reuse record today (Nov. 11). A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the KoreaSat-6A telecom satellite from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida today, during a four-hour window that opens at 12:07 p.m. EST (1607 GMT). It will be the 23rd mission for this rocket’s first stage, according to SpaceX, equaling a mark set by two other Falcon 9 boosters. SpaceX will webcast the launch live via X, beginning about 15 minutes before liftoff. If all goes according to plan, the booster…

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SpaceX plans to launch 24 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida’s Space Coast on Monday (Nov. 11). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday during a four-hour window that opens at 4:02 p.m. EST (2102 GMT). The launch had originally been planned for Sunday evening, but was delayed due to “unfavorable recovery weather conditions,” according to SpaceX. SpaceX will webcast the launch live via X, beginning about five minutes before liftoff. If all goes to…

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In a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, scientists have successfully integrated a crucial component onto the Roman Space Telescope. This device, known as the Roman Coronagraph Instrument, is designed to block starlight, enabling scientists to detect the faint light from planets beyond our solar system. This achievement marks a significant milestone for NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a next-generation space observatory that will launch around May 2027. With a field of view at least 100 times larger than that of the Hubble Space Telescope,…

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Australia is poised to be the next country to take the giant leap into orbit. Aussie-based company Gilmour Space received the country’s first orbital launch license this week, as it prepares for the first test flight of its Eris rocket. A specific launch date is expected within the next few weeks, according to a Gilmour Space press release, with a liftoff from the company’s Bowen Orbital Spaceport, in northern Queensland. Gilmour Space opened its doors in 2015, and has since grown to more than 200 employees. Located on Queensland’s Gold…

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Russia launched 53 small satellites into orbit on Monday (Nov. 4), a mix of Russian and international spacecraft. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a Fregat upper stage lifted off from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East at 6:18 p.m. EST on Monday (2318 GMT; or 2:18 a.m. on Nov. 5 local time). “The hosted payload consisting of 49 Russian satellites, a Russian-Chinese satellite, a Russian-Zimbabwean satellite and two Iranian small satellites was delivered into the designated orbits and separated from the Fregat booster that was launched by a…

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