The planned flight came two days after SpaceX scrubbed a launch attempt on Wednesday amid fueling. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 10:44 a.m. PST (1:44 p.m. EST / 1844 UTC).
Astronomer-turned-medical physicist and now NASA astronaut Chris Williams joined two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz ferry ship Thursday for a Thanksgiving Day flight to the International Space Station, kicking off a planned eight-month stay in orbit.
The Earth imaging company released a statement on Tuesday stating that its latest Gen-3 satellite launched successfully and began sending high-quality images within 24 hours.
The flight will be the largest mission for Exolaunch, which managing the manifesting and deployment of 59 satellites onboard the Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from pad 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 28, at 10:18 a.m. PST (1:18 p.m. EST / 1818 UTC).
The change comes days after the mission’s previous commander was promoted to lead NASA’s Astronaut Office. NASA and Boeing are also reducing the required number of missions to the International Space Station from six down to four.
The Starlink 6-78 mission, carrying 29 satellites for SpaceX’s internet service, is targeted to roar away from launch complex 39A at 10:39 p.m. EST (0339 UTC).
The Starlink 6-94 mission is scheduled to liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 7:12 p.m. EST (0012 UTC), carrying 29 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service.
SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change.
The Sentinel-6B satellite will liftoff atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 9:21:42 p.m. PST (12:21:42 a.m. EST / 0521:42 UTC), almost exactly five years after its twin, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, launched from the same pad.
The mission is one of two Starlink flights scheduled to fly from Florida within a four-hour window of opportunity. Liftoff of the Starlink 6-85 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 1:44 a.m. EST (0644 UTC).