November 2020 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX going for new rocket reuse record on 100th Falcon 9 launch

November 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Sixty more Starlink internet satellites are ready to rocket into orbit Sunday night from Cape Canaveral on the 100th flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher, and the seventh flight of SpaceX’s reusable “fleet leader” booster.

Watch a 4K video replay of Falcon 9’s static fire test (members only)

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT) on Nov. 21, a customary pre-flight test before the next launch of Starlink internet satellites for the company’s ever-growing broadband network.

International satellite launches to extend measurements of sea level rise

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on our home planet.

Photos: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich encapsulated for launch

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of the encapsulation of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite inside the payload shroud of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches oceanography satellite from California

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:17 p.m. EST (9:17 a.m. PST; 1717 GMT) Saturday with an oceanography satellite jointly developed by U.S. and European space and weather agencies. The rocket’s first stage booster returned to a bullseye landing back at Vandenberg.

Crew-rated SpaceX booster returns to Cape Canaveral with a lean

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 booster that launched four astronauts toward orbit last weekend arrived back on Florida’s Space Coast Thursday aboard a SpaceX drone ship, sailing into Port Canaveral with a lean but otherwise in seemingly good shape after it apparently slid across the ship’s deck in high winds and rough seas. Assuming post-flight inspections reveal no major issues, SpaceX aims to reuse the booster to launch the next Crew Dragon mission in 2021.

Photos: Four astronauts launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

These images show the liftoff of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft on top of a 215-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts on an expedition to the International Space Station.

Rocket Lab recovers booster after launch with 30 small satellites

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab says the first stage of its Electron launcher splashed down under parachute in the Pacific Ocean off New Zealand after firing into space with 30 small satellites Thursday, becoming only the second private company to return an orbital-class booster to Earth intact.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 launcher lifted off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday at 9:13 p.m. EST (0213 GMT Wednesday) with 60 more Starlink broadband satellites.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Electron, booster parachutes into sea

November 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand at 9:20 p.m. EST Thursday (0220 GMT Friday) carrying 30 small payloads into low Earth orbit. The company said the first stage of the Electron rocket splashed down in the Pacific Ocean under a parachute, a major step in Rocket Lab’s rocket reuse program.