February 2021 – Page 6 – Spaceflight Now

Photos: Sixty more Starlinks rocket through moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral

February 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

With another SpaceX rocket poised for launch just a few miles away, a Falcon 9 launcher soared through a moonlit sky over Cape Canaveral on Feb. 4 carrying 60 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

UAE’s Hope orbiter on course for arrival at Mars

February 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

The first interplanetary probe from the United Arab Emirates is set to enter orbit around Mars on Tuesday, the first of three robotic missions taking aim on the Red Planet this month.

China launches military satellite toward geostationary orbit

February 7, 2021 Stephen Clark

A mysterious Chinese government satellite, believed to be a military-operated early warning station, successfully launched into orbit Feb. 4 on top of a Long March 3B rocket.

Russian Soyuz rocket delivers military intelligence-gathering satellite into orbit

February 7, 2021 Stephen Clark

Russia sent a spy satellite into orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket Feb. 2 from a snowy launch pad at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, setting off on a mission to detect, locate, and characterize foreign military radio signals.

No SpaceX doubleheader for now, but range is ready for two launches in a day

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

One of the two Falcon 9 rockets SpaceX planned to take off in a span of less than five hours earlier this week will remain grounded indefinitely, preventing Cape Canaveral from hosting two launches on the same day for the first time in decades. But the military-run Eastern Range was ready for the back-to-back missions, and probably won’t have to wait long for the next chance for a launch doubleheader.

After success in 2019, Chinese startup fails on second orbital launch attempt

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

The second orbital launch attempt by Chinese launch company iSpace failed shortly after liftoff Feb. 1, following a successful debut flight in 2019 that made iSpace the first private firm in China to put a payload into orbit.

SpaceX fires 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit, with more set to launch Friday

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

Sixty more SpaceX-owned Starlink internet satellites rocketed through a moonlit winter sky over Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 launcher early Thursday, while another Falcon 9 sat on a different launch pad a few miles away to loft another 60 Starlink payloads Friday.

Watch a live view of the Falcon 9 launch pad (members only)

February 4, 2021 Spaceflight Now

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for Spaceflight Now Members.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

February 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket carried 60 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit early Thursday after swapping places with another Starlink mission SpaceX’s fast-paced launch schedule. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 1:19 a.m. EST (0619 GMT).

SpaceX Starship prototype lost in test flight landing mishap

February 2, 2021 William Harwood

SpaceX launched a prototype Starship rocket Tuesday from its Boca Chica, Texas, flight facility, successfully sending the silver booster up to an altitude of about six miles as planned. But the unpiloted test flight ended with a spectacular explosion when the rocket failed to right itself and slow down enough for a tail-first landing.