June 2019 – Spaceflight Now

Barring a surprise, SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight is planned in late 2020

June 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

After two successful Falcon Heavy missions in less than 11 weeks, launch fans will likely have to wait until late 2020 for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy flight, barring a surprise mission for an unannounced customer.

More photos from SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy night launch

June 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

The predawn launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center of a Falcon Heavy rocket June 25 was the first nighttime liftoff of SpaceX’s heavy-lifter, the most powerful launcher currently operational anywhere in the world. The Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral less than nine minutes later.

Rocket Lab flies again from New Zealand as work progresses at Virginia launch pad

June 29, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s third flight of the year delivered seven small commercial, military and educational satellites into orbit Saturday after a launch from New Zealand, while construction of a new launch pad in Virginia continues on pace for completion by the end of the year.

SLS mobile launcher moves to pad 39B for final exams

June 28, 2019 Stephen Clark

A towering mobile platform for the agency’s Space Launch System arrived at launch pad 39B Friday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a sequence of water and propellant flow tests, swing arm checkouts and other rehearsals that should conclude with managers declaring the spaceport’s ground systems ready to support the first SLS launch campaign by the end of the year.

NASA approves development of flying drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan

June 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA officials announced Thursday that the agency will move forward with the development of a plutonium-powered robotic quadcopter drone to explore Saturn’s moon Titan, a hazy world covered with dunes and methane lakes that scientists say is reminiscent of the ancient Earth.

Watch NASA’s mobile launcher at pad 39B (members only)

June 27, 2019 Spaceflight Now

Watch live video of the mobile launcher for the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as it stands at the gates to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA selects missions to observe the sun and its impact on Earth

June 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has selected two satellite missions for launch on the same rocket in 2022 to investigate the origins of the solar wind and explore the interaction between magnetic fields around Earth with those from the sun.

Launch timeline for Rocket Lab’s “Make it Rain” mission

June 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its seventh flight from New Zealand, aiming for a 280-mile-high (450-kilometer) orbit with seven small satellites for commercial customers, the U.S. military and university students.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches rideshare mission

June 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

Seven small satellites rode a Rocket Lab Electron rocket into orbit Saturday from New Zealand. Carrying commercial, military and student payloads, the Electron launcher lifted off at 0430 GMT (12:30 a.m. EDT).

Photos: Falcon Heavy lights up Florida’s Space Coast

June 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

The world’s most powerful operational rocket flashed to life at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 GMT) Tuesday and climbed into a moonlit summer sky from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same site where the Apollo 11 astronauts left Earth for their historic moon landing nearly 50 years ago.