SpaceX launched its Transporter-9 mission on Saturday (Nov. 11), a ‘rideshare’ flight that lofted 90 payloads into orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:49 p.m. EST (1849 GMT; 10:49 a.m. local California time), kicking off the Transporter-9 mission. Related: 8 ways that SpaceX has transformed spaceflight A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage touches down at Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023. (Image credit: SpaceX (via X)) The Falcon 9’s first stage came…
Read MoreTag: Rocket Launches
China launches mystery satellite on Long March 7A rocket (photo)
China launched what it describes as an experimental communications technology satellite late last week. A Long March 7A rocket lifted off from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center at 10:54 a.m. EDT (1454 GMT, or 10:54 p.m. Beijing Time) on Friday (Nov. 3). The payload was revealed to be Tongxin Jishu Shiyan Weixing-10 (TJS-10) by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) when the organization announced launch success within an hour of liftoff. Chinese state media outlet Xinhua described the satellite as being “mainly used for multi-band and…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 23 satellites tonight on 2nd half of Starlink doubleheader
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch 23 Starlink internet satellites tonight (Oct. 29), on the second of two planned missions for the day. A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight at 7:45 p.m. EDT (2345 GMT). If the Falcon 9 can’t get off the ground on time, seven backup opportunities are available, from 8:17 p.m. EDT to 10:47 p.m. EDT (0017 to 0247 GMT on Oct. 30), according to a SpaceX mission description. You can watch the…
Read MoreNASA rocket to study star-forming supernova remnant on Oct. 29
There’s no better way to understand the life cycle of stars than watching it unfold. This weekend, a NASA rocket will study a dramatic stellar event about 2,600 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. In that pocket of the universe, a once massive star, perhaps 20 times the size of our sun, exploded in a brilliant supernova that would have been bright enough for those on Earth to see with an unaided eye, even during the day. Although the blast occurred some 20,000 years ago, star matter ejected during…
Read MoreEurope’s new Ariane 6 rocket will undergo crucial engine test fire in November
Europe has set a new date for a key long-duration static-fire test needed to get the new Ariane 6 rocket ready for launch. The Ariane 6 test article rocket will fire its Vulcain 2.1 engine for a full eight minutes (470 seconds), representing the entire flight phase of the core stage. The test will occur sometime in November 2023 at Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a statement on Oct. 19. Another test designed to rehearse launch procedures including engine ignition is…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites tonight on 2nd leg of spaceflight doubleheader
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch 23 Starlink internet satellites to orbit from Florida tonight (Oct. 21) on the company’s second mission of the day. The Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight at 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 GMT on Oct. 22). If SpaceX cannot hit that target, there are five backup opportunities available, from 11:07 p.m. EDT to 2:15 a.m. EDT (0307 to 0515 GMT), according to a company mission description. SpaceX will webcast the launch via its account on…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites tonight in 1st of back-to-back missions
SpaceX is set to launch 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida tonight (Oct. 8) on the first leg of a spaceflight doubleheader for the company. The Starlink spacecraft are scheduled to lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station tonight at 9:06 p.m. EDT (0106 GMT on Oct. 9). Four backup opportunities are available as well, from 9:57 p.m. EDT until 12:29 a.m. EDT (0157 to 0429 GMT on Oct. 9). You can watch the action live via SpaceX’s account on X…
Read MoreSpanish company launching rocket for 1st time today: Watch it live
Spanish company PLD Space plans to launch one of its rockets for the first time ever today (Oct. 6), and you can watch the action live. PLD Space’s Miura 1 suborbital rocket is scheduled to lift off today from the El Arenosillo Test Center at the National Institute of Aerospace Technology in Huelva, Spain, during an eight-hour window that opens at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT on Oct. 7). You can watch it live here at Space.com when the time comes, courtesy of PLD Space, or directly via the company.…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 22 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida this evening
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is poised to launch from Florida’s Space Coast this evening (Sept. 29), carrying 22 Starlink satellites to orbit. The Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 6:39 p.m. EDT (2239 GMT). You can watch it live via SpaceX‘s account on X (formerly Twitter); coverage will start about five minutes before liftoff. Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky If all goes according to plan, the Falcon 9’s first stage will…
Read MoreNASA delays launch of Psyche asteroid mission by 1 week, to Oct. 12
We’ll have to wait another week to see NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission take flight. Psyche had been scheduled to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Oct. 5. But that’s no longer the plan; the mission team has pushed the liftoff back to Oct. 12. “The change allows the NASA team to complete verifications of the parameters used to control the Psyche spacecraft’s nitrogen cold gas thrusters,” NASA officials wrote in an update on Thursday evening (Sept. 28). “The parameters were…
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