Powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, the 407-foot-tall two-stage rocket blasted off from SpaceX’s “Starbase,” Texas, launch site at 5:51 p.m. EDT, putting on a spectacular show for area residents and tourists as it climbed away atop some 16 million pounds of thrust.
Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California occurred at 8:51 a.m. PDT (11:51 a.m. EDT / 1551 UTC). The Falcon 9 placed 24 Starlink satellites into orbit.
The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex is one of three critical sites around the world that communicate with spacecraft beyond the reach of near-Earth communications capabilities.
The flight was delayed another day as Tropical Storm Bertha was expected to make landfall in Texas on Thursday. Liftoff of the Starship Flight 13 mission is scheduled during a 90-minute window that opens on Friday, July 24, at 5:45 p.m. CDT (6:45 p.m. EDT / 2245 UTC).
Northrop Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle features the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) payload from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and DARPA. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled during a four-hour window that opens at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 UTC).
The mission will also test out a series of improvements to the launcher to help push it closer to full reusability. Liftoff from pad 2 at Starbase, Texas, was aborted at ignition due to an engine-related issue.
Liftoff of the Starlink 10-50 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 happened at 6:50 a.m. EDT (1050 UTC). The rocket’s first-stage booster carried two semiconductor manufacturing pods for Besxar Space Industries.
The Starlink 17-46 mission flew on the 77th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:58 p.m. PDT (10:58 p.m. EDT / 0258 UTC).
On May 27, flight controllers at the Johnson Space Center in Houston noticed one of the Canadian-built arm’s seven joints was drawing more current than expected and not moving properly.
The explosion of a New Glenn rocket on May 28 is still under investigation. The company said it’s moving to a hybrid horizontal-vertical integration for its rockets moving forward.
The SXM-11 satellite was built by Intuitive Machines and is more than 230-feet-tall. Liftoff on SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:25 p.m. EDT (0225 UTC).
The Starlink 17-40 mission will add another 24 broadband internet satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit constellation. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 9:09 a.m. PDT (12:09 p.m. EDT / 1609 UTC)
Liftoff of the Starlink 17-45 mission from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California occurred at 8:30 p.m. PDT (11:30 p.m. EDT / 0330 UTC).