March 2021 – Page 5 – Spaceflight Now

China’s Long March 7A rocket successful on second flight

March 12, 2021 Stephen Clark

The second flight of China’s new medium-lift Long March 7A rocket successfully placed an experimental satellite into orbit Thursday, following a failed launch of the same configuration last year caused by a problem in a booster liquid oxygen system.

SpaceX adds more satellites to Starlink internet fleet

March 11, 2021 Stephen Clark

Continuing a high-tempo launch cadence, SpaceX delivered another batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites to orbit early Thursday after a seemingly flawless liftoff from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

ULA, SpaceX split military launch contract awards

March 10, 2021 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force announced Tuesday that it awarded $384 million in contracts to United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, giving each company two missions to launch military satellites in 2023.

Stacking complete for SLS boosters

March 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The twin 177-foot-tall solid-fueled boosters for the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System have been stacked inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to await arrival of the rocket’s cryogenic core stage, which is set for a second engine test on a firing stand in Mississippi later this month.

NASA astronaut joins Russian Soyuz crew for April flight to space station

March 9, 2021 William Harwood

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, veteran of a 168-day stay in space in 2017-18, will join two Russian cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz spacecraft April 9 for a flight back to the International Space Station in a deal brokered through Houston-based Axiom Space, NASA and the Russian space agency announced Tuesday.

Launch of asteroid deflection demonstrator slips to November

March 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The launch of a NASA spacecraft designed to smash into an asteroid to try out a technique that could protect Earth from threatening space rocks has slipped from July until November, at the earliest, after development delays partially caused by coronavirus-related work slowdowns.

Watch a 4K video replay of the Falcon 9 static fire (members only)

March 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Monday evening at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, paving the way for launch of 60 more Starlink internet satellites Tuesday night.

Watch a live view of pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (members only)

March 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, where SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff with another batch of Starlink internet satellites.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fires into orbit from Cape Canaveral

March 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the next batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites at 3:13 a.m. EST (0813 GMT) Thursday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable first stage successfully landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Delta 4-Heavy rocket erected on Vandenberg launch pad

March 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance recently raised a Delta 4-Heavy rocket, one of four left in the company’s backlog, vertical on its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for liftoff with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite at the end of April.