September 2022 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Firefly launches Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base

September 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace successfully reached orbit with the second test flight of the company’s Alpha small satellite launcher. The Alpha rocket took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:01 a.m. PDT (3:01 a.m. EDT; 0701 GMT) Saturday.

SpaceX, NASA studying commercial crew mission to Hubble Space Telescope

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX will study the potential use of a commercial Dragon crew spacecraft to reboost and service the Hubble Space Telescope, a 32-year-old observatory last upgraded by a space shuttle in 2009, officials announced Thursday.

Firefly ready for another try to launch test flight of smallsat rocket

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

After a delay of several weeks due to technical issues, bad weather, and a busy launch range, Firefly Aerospace is set to try again early Friday to send its commercial small satellite launcher into orbit on a test flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Russian Soyuz brings three cosmonauts home from space station

September 29, 2022 William Harwood

Three cosmonauts undocked from the International Space Station Thursday and returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft, safely landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to wrap up a 195-day mission.

Live coverage: Russian cosmonauts land in Kazakhstan

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

Three Russian cosmonauts rode a Soyuz spacecraft back to Earth Thursday after departing the International Space Station to wrap up 195 days. The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft carrying cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov undocked from the station at 3:34 a.m. EDT (0734 GMT) and landed at 6:57 a.m. EDT (1057 GMT).

Live updates: NASA reports minimal damage to Kennedy Space Center

September 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

Watch live views from our cameras at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as Hurricane Ian moves away from Florida after bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to the Space Coast. NASA moved the Artemis 1 moon rocket back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday, and the agency reported minimal damage from the storm.

SpaceX, ULA postpone launches as Hurricane Ian moves toward Florida

September 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

The forecast track of Hurricane Ian across Central Florida has forced SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to postpone several launches planned in the coming days at Cape Canaveral, including the next crew flight to the International Space Station, a Starlink mission, and the liftoff of an Atlas 5 rocket.

Artemis 1 rocket moved to hangar as spaceport completes hurricane preps

September 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA moved the Space Launch System moon rocket back into its hangar Tuesday to take shelter from Hurricane Ian, likely pushing back the next launch attempt for the agency’s long-delayed Artemis 1 lunar test flight until mid-November as Kennedy Space Center braces for high winds and flooding rains.

NASA spacecraft smashes into asteroid in first planetary defense test

September 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

A $330 million NASA mission completed what amounts to an interplanetary game of darts Monday night with an on-target collision with a space rock nearly 7 million miles from Earth, testing a technique that scientists could use in the future to protect our home planet from a threatening asteroid.

Live coverage: NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket rolls back to VAB for hurricane protection

September 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA rolled the Space Launch System moon rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building early Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, moving the more than 30-story-tall launcher to safety as Hurricane Ian threatens Florida. The decision to roll the rocket back to the VAB will likely delay launch of the Artemis 1 lunar test flight until November.