The Peregrine lunar lander has completed all its launch milestones and has been stacked atop the Vulcan Centaur rocket that will carry it to space. The launch of the first United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is set for Jan. 8, 2024, with Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander expected to attempt a landing on the moon on Feb. 23, 2024. The landing will make history as not only is Peregrine Astrobotic’s first lander mission, but this is also (possibly) set to be the first time…
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SpaceX fires up giant Starship rocket ahead of 3rd test flight (video)
SpaceX’s latest Starship vehicle has begun flexing its considerable muscle. SpaceX conducted a “static fire” test today (Dec. 20) with the Starship upper-stage prototype known as Ship 28, briefly igniting the vehicle’s Raptor engines while it remained anchored to the pad at the company’s Starbase site in South Texas. Ship 28 is being prepped to conduct Starship’s third test flight, which SpaceX aims to launch in the coming weeks. And that timeline apparently remains in target, for today’s trial went well. “Flight 3 Starship completed a full-duration static fire with…
Read MoreWatch Blue Origin launch 1st mission in 15 months today
Blue Origin will launch its first mission in more than 15 months this morning (Dec. 18), and you can watch the action live. Blue Origin‘s New Shepard suborbital vehicle is scheduled to lift off from the company’s West Texas site today during a window that opens at 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT; 8:30 a.m. local Texas time). You can watch the action live via Blue Origin, which was founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Space.com will carry the company’s feed if possible. Coverage will begin at 9:10 a.m. EST (1410…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 1st batch of ‘direct to cell’ Starlink satellites early Dec. 15
SpaceX plans to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites early Friday morning (Dec. 15), and you can watch the action live. A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 21 Starlink craft is scheduled to launch from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base on Friday during a roughly 3.5-hour window that opens at 12:04 a.m. EST (0504 GMT; 9:04 p.m. on Dec. 14 local California time). And some of those satellites are trailblazers. “This launch will include the first six Starlink satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities that will enable mobile network operators…
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