Tag: Launches & Spacecraft

SpaceX launching direct-to-cell Starlink satellites from California tonight

NeRD

SpaceX plans to launch 20 more of its Starlink satellites tonight (July 10), including 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off tonight from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base, during a four-hour window that opens at 10 p.m. EDT (7 p.m. local California time; 0200 GMT on July 11). SpaceX will livestream the action via its X account; coverage will begin about 15 minutes before launch. The Falcon 9’s first stage will return to Earth tonight, if all goes according to…

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Watch SpaceX catch Starship Super Heavy booster with ‘chopsticks’ in this animation

NeRD

A new SpaceX video gives us a glimpse of the future — the very near future, perhaps. Late last week, Elon Musk‘s company posted on X a 60-second animation showing Super Heavy — the first stage of SpaceX’s giant new Starship rocket — coming back down to Earth after a liftoff.  SpaceX has made rocket landings relatively routine, commonly bringing back the first stages of its workhorse Falcon 9 and powerful Falcon Heavy vehicles. But the touchdown in the animation is different: It’s a midair catch performed by the “chopstick” arms of…

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Watch Firefly Aerospace launch 8 cubesats to orbit tonight

NeRD

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket will fly for the fifth time ever early Tuesday morning (July 2), and you can watch the action live. The mission, which Firefly calls “Noise of Summer,” is scheduled to launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 12:03 a.m. EDT (0403 GMT; 9:03 p.m. on July 1 local California time). Firefly will host a launch webcast with NASASpaceflight.com, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff. Space.com will carry it here and on our home page, courtesy of Firefly and NASASpaceflight. “Noise of Summer” will send eight cubesats…

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Watch SpaceX’s Starship Super Heavy booster splash down in this epic video

NeRD

Watching Starship come back to Earth last week was perhaps even more exciting than seeing it rise off the pad. SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the fourth time ever on June 6, sending the giant vehicle into space from its Starbase site in South Texas.  The flight plan called for both of Starship’s stages — the Super Heavy first-stage booster and the 165-foot-tall (50 meters) upper stage, called Starship, or just Ship — to steer themselves back to Earth for ocean splashdowns. Super Heavy was supposed to come down in…

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At long last: Europe’s new Ariane 6 rocket set to debut on July 9

NeRD

Europe’s new Ariane 6 heavy-lift rocket is set to launch for the first time on July 9 after a series of delays.  The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Ariane 6 rocket, developed by ArianeGroup, will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The date of the rocket‘s long-awaited inaugural flight was announced at the ILA Berlin air show on June 5; however, a specific launch time or window has not yet been released.  “Ariane 6 marks a new era of autonomous, versatile European space travel,” Josef Aschbacher, ESA’s director general,…

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SpaceX Starship launches nail-biting Flight 4 test of the world’s most powerful rocket (video, photos)

NeRD

The fourth test flight of the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built is in the books, and what a dramatic and nail-biting trip for SpaceX it was. SpaceX launched its Starship megarocket for the fourth time ever today (June 6) at 8:50 a.m. EDT (1250 GMT), sending the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) vehicle aloft from its Starbase site near Boca Chica Beach in South Texas atop a thundering pillar of fire.  There were two main goals today: bring Starship’s first-stage booster, known as Super Heavy, down for a soft splashdown…

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China’s space plane releases another mystery object into orbit

NeRD

China’s reusable space plane has released another unknown object into Earth’s orbit.  The experimental orbital plane, named Shenlong, which means “divine dragon” in Chinese, has been in orbit for 168 days. Space activity tracker Jonathan McDowell first spotted the spacecraft’s recent activity on May 24. The new object has since been cataloged as 59884 (International designator 2023-195G) by the U.S. Space Force space domain awareness teams, SpaceNews reported.  “This object could be a subsatellite deployment, or it could be a piece of hardware ejected prior to end of mission and…

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SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from Florida tonight

NeRD

Another day, another Starlink launch. SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink satellites to orbit late Friday (May 31). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of the broadband craft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:37 p.m. EDT (0237 GMT on June 1) after a slight 26-minute delay due to weather. The Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth as planned about 8 minutes after launch, landing on the droneship called “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 14th launch and landing…

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Watch Rocket Lab launch shoebox-sized NASA climate satellite tonight

NeRD

Rocket Lab will launch the second of two cubesats for NASA’s PREFIRE climate change mission tonight (May 31), and you can watch the action live. An Electron rocket topped with the tiny satellite is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand site tonight at 11:00 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT and 3:00 p.m. New Zealand time on June 1). Rocket Lab will livestream the liftoff, beginning about 30 minutes before launch. Space.com will carry the feed if, as expected, Rocket Lab makes it available. Related: NASA’s twin spacecraft will…

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SpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from Florida this morning

NeRD

SpaceX is set to launch yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida this morning (May 27). A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to loft 23 Starlink spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 10:56 a.m. EDT (1456 GMT), with backup opportunities available until 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT). SpaceX will webcast the launch live via its X account, beginning about five minutes before the window opens. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky The Falcon 9’s first stage…

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