March 2021 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

U.S. Space Force’s next missile warning satellite arrives at Florida launch base

March 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

A billion-dollar missile warning satellite built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Space Force arrived at Cape Canaveral earlier this month to kick off final preparations for launch May 17 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

NASA primed for historic flight of experimental Mars helicopter

March 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Perseverance rover will soon release a small rotorcraft onto the surface of Mars and drive a safe distance away to observe a series of historic test flights in the ultra-thin Martian atmosphere, which could begin around April 8, officials said this week.

Soyuz launch adds 36 satellites to OneWeb’s global internet network

March 25, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket took off from a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East and deployed 36 Florida-built OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Thursday. Another batch of OneWeb satellites will launch next month, continuing the build-out of a planned fleet of 648 spacecraft to provide global broadband services.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches with 36 satellites for OneWeb’s constellation

March 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

OneWeb’s next 36 internet satellites stacked on top of a Soyuz rocket lifted at 10:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0247 GMT Thursday) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

SpaceX launches 25th mission for Starlink internet network

March 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

Another 60 Starlink internet satellites rumbled into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the 25th mission to launch spacecraft for SpaceX’s broadband network.

Watch a live view of the Falcon 9 on pad 40 (members only)

March 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of the Falcon 9 rocket on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as it awaits launch with 60 more Starlink satellites.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

For the fourth time this month, SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast with another 60 Starlink internet satellites. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 4:28 a.m. EDT (0828 GMT) Wednesday. The Falcon 9’s booster landed on an offshore drone ship.

Starlink and OneWeb satellites ready for launch on opposite sides of the world

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and OneWeb — space industry rivals and owners of two of the largest fleets of commercial satellites — are set to add more spacecraft to their internet networks Wednesday with launches from Cape Canaveral and Russia.

Testbed for NASA moon mission rides to orbit with six other satellites

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched seven satellites Monday from New Zealand on a rideshare mission serving the U.S. and Australian militaries and space services startups. A spacecraft developed in-house by Rocket Lab was also aboard to prove out technologies for a NASA moon mission launching later this year.

Privately-funded mission takes off to begin space debris cleanup trials

March 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

A commercial mission developed by the Japanese company Astroscale rocketed into space on a Russian Soyuz launcher Monday with 37 other payloads, ready to kick off an orbital “dance” with two small spacecraft demonstrating how satellite sweepers might one day drag junk out of orbit.