December 2020 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Video: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off carrying a classified payload (members only)

December 19, 2020 Spaceflight Now

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office.

Arianespace targets early 2021 for Vega return-to-flight

December 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

Presenting the results of an inquiry into a European Vega rocket failure last month, officials said Friday that misleading instructions and inadequate preflight checks caused teams to overlook wrongly-installed cables on the launcher’s upper stage steering system. Arianespace aims to resume Vega launches before the end of March.

OneWeb resumes deployment of 650-satellite broadband network

December 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

The next 36 satellites for OneWeb’s broadband internet network fired into orbit from Russia’s Far East Friday on a Soyuz rocket, giving OneWeb 110 of a planned fleet of 650 spacecraft after the company emerged from bankruptcy earlier this year.

SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch to assess second stage issue

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch attempt Thursday to evaluate a “slightly high” pressure reading in the rocket’s upper stage liquid oxygen tank, and officials have rescheduled the company’s final mission of the year for Saturday morning.

PSLV delivers Indian communications satellite into orbit

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

A government communications satellite to link Indian citizens with telemedicine, education, and other services rocketed into orbit Thursday on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

Watch a live view of the Falcon 9 rocket on pad 39A (members only)

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the Falcon 9 rocket on pad 39A as SpaceX counts down to launch of the NROL-108 mission.

Live coverage: PSLV successfully launches from India

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle carried a new communications satellite into orbit Thursday, replacing a satellite launched in 2011 providing telemedicine, remote education, and other telecom services across the Indian subcontinent. Liftoff occurred at 5:11 a.m. EST (1011 GMT).

OneWeb satellites awaiting launch on Soyuz rocket Friday

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

After a nine-month hiatus caused by bankruptcy, the deployment of OneWeb’s broadband network will resume Friday with the launch of the company’s next 36 satellites on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches NRO payload, lands booster at Cape Canaveral

December 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s final Falcon 9 launch of the year carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. SpaceX aborted a launch attempt Thursday morning to assess a second stage sensor reading, but the Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) Saturday. The rocket’s stage landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes later.

NRO using SpaceX’s commercial launch service for spy satellite payload

December 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off Thursday from Florida’s Space Coast with a secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office, which broke with standard practice to procure the launch commercially, outside of the government’s established contracting schemes.