April 2020 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Starlink network surpasses 400-satellite mark after successful launch

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 60 more spacecraft Wednesday to join the Starlink fleet beaming broadband signals around the world, while the company’s engineers move closer to debuting a sunshade that could reduce the satellites’ impacts on ground-based astronomy.

Russian resupply freighter poised for launch to International Space Station

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Continuing support of the International Space Station amid the coronavirus pandemic, Russian teams transferred a Soyuz rocket to a launch pad in Kazakhstan on Wednesday in preparation for liftoff with a Progress resupply freighter.

Iran places military satellite in orbit

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps — a branch of the country’s armed forces — launched a small military spacecraft into orbit Wednesday, ending a string of rocket failures in the nascent Iranian satellite program.

Timeline for Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink Internet satellites Wednesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from pad 39A occurred at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s previously-flown first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s offshore drone ship.

Intelsat satellite resumes operations after docking of robotic servicer

April 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

An Intelsat communications spacecraft running low on fuel has resumed commercial operations more than 22,000 miles over the Atlantic Ocean after getting an assist from a pioneering servicing satellite earlier this year.

SpaceX modifies Starlink network design as another 60 satellites gear up for launch

April 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Another 60 Starlink satellites are ready for launch Wednesday to beam Internet signals to future SpaceX consumers as the company seeks regulatory approval to deploy thousands more spacecraft at lower altitudes than originally planned.

Photos: Space station crew back on Earth

April 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

A scaled-down team of technicians and medical personnel — wearing facial masks as a precaution against the global coronavirus pandemic — met a three-person space station crew on the steppes of Kazakhstan Friday after their landing aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

NASA narrows design for rocket to launch samples off of Mars

April 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

After years of studies, test-firings and a survey of U.S. industry in preparation for launch of a Mars Sample Return mission in 2026, NASA has settled on a solid-fueled design for a miniature rocket with a first-of-its-kind purpose: Launching a payload from Mars for a trip back to Earth.

SpaceX test-fires rocket for Starlink launch next week

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, keeping pace for a launch scheduled next Thursday, April 23, with the next batch of 60 Starlink broadband Internet satellites.