May 2022 – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: SpaceX rocket, Starlink satellites launch from pad 39A

May 18, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s third Starlink satellite deployment mission in five days launched at 6:59 a.m. EDT (1059 GMT) Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket carried 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.

ISS spacesuits ‘no-go’ for non-emergency spacewalks after water intrusion

May 17, 2022 William Harwood

The aging shuttle-era spacesuits aboard the International Space Station have been declared “no-go” for operational, normally planned spacewalks pending analysis to determine what led to excess water getting into an astronaut’s helmet during a March excursion, officials confirmed Tuesday.

NASA, Boeing ready for long-delayed, high-stakes Starliner test flight

May 17, 2022 Stephen Clark

Running years late, Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule program is poised for a crucial unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station set for launch Thursday, a do-over of an abbreviated 2019 demo mission that has cost the aerospace contractor nearly $600 million.

Geostationary comsats delivered to Florida for SpaceX launches in June

May 16, 2022 Stephen Clark

A transport ship delivered the SES 22 and Nilesat 301 geostationary communications satellites to Cape Canaveral over the weekend to prepare for two launches on SpaceX rockets in June, completing a trans-Atlantic journey from France originally planned on Russian-owned cargo planes.

NASA lander detects biggest ‘marsquake’ yet

May 16, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA’s InSight lander operating on the surface of Mars has detected the most powerful seismic tremor ever measured on another planet, a “marsquake” estimated at magnitude 5, strong enough to reveal new insights about the deep Martian interior.

SpaceX’s first-gen Starlink fleet halfway complete after back-to-back launches

May 14, 2022 Stephen Clark

More than half of the spacecraft SpaceX needs to fill the company’s planned first-generation, 4,408-satellite Starlink network are now in orbit, following the addition of 106 new internet relay nodes launched on two Falcon 9 rockets Friday and Saturday.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches new booster with more Starlink satellites

May 14, 2022 Stephen Clark

Less than 24 hours after launching Starlink satellites from California, SpaceX lofted another 53 internet relay stations at 4:40 p.m. EDT (2040 GMT) Saturday from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. It was SpaceX’s 20th launch of the year, and the second of 2022 to debut a new Falcon 9 booster.

SpaceX passes 2,500 satellites launched for Starlink internet network

May 13, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Friday afternoon from California’s Central Coast with another batch 53 Starlink internet satellites, pushing the total number of spacecraft launched in the network above 2,500, including testbeds and prototypes already cycled out of the fleet.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg

May 13, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 3:07 p.m. PDT (6:07 p.m. EDT; 2207 GMT) Friday with 53 Starlink internet satellites. The booster landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

NASA safety advisors voice concerns over Boeing’s Starliner, SpaceX’s Starship

May 13, 2022 Stephen Clark

Members of NASA’s independent safety advisory panel on Thursday cautioned the space agency not to rush toward a crew test flight of Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft. The safety advisors also said there are “obvious safety concerns” about SpaceX’s plan to launch the giant Starship rocket from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, the same facility used for astronaut missions to the International Space Station.