Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 51 CubeSats, microsatellites, hosted payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles on the Transporter 7 rideshare mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
Mission Reports
Station astronaut calls private spaceflight ‘next breakthrough’
Space station astronaut Reid Wiseman, preparing to return to Earth this weekend after 165 days in orbit, said commercial spaceflight represents the “next breakthrough” in aerospace technology, and that he hopes Virgin Galactic can ultimately turn that dream into reality despite the fatal crash of the company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane.
