February 2024 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX squeezes in rare Leap Day Falcon 9 launch following Crew-8 astronaut delay

February 29, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 6-40 mission marked a rare Leap Day launch from the Cape. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket occurred at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 UTC) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Firefly Aerospace doubles Texas footprint to support testing of Antares 330, MLV rocket

February 28, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Firefly is working in partnership with Northrop Grumman on the rockets, which are expected to make their launch debuts in 2025. The infrastructure expansion in Briggs, Texas, boosts the company’s manufacturing space from 92,000 to 207,000 square feet.

SpaceX tests new emergency escape system to certify pad 40 at Cape Canaveral for astronaut missions

February 27, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The slide system differs notably from the slide wire basket system used over at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA officials said pad 40 will be ready for astronaut launches this year.

Astronauts, cosmonaut arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of NASA, SpaceX Crew-8 launch

February 25, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The quartet touched down at the Launch and Landing Facility around 1:45 p.m. EST (1845 UTC). They’re set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Friday, March 1, at 12:04 a.m.

SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

February 24, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The Sunday flight was the first featuring a batch of 24 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, the most launched at once to date. Liftoff occurred at 5:06 p.m. EST (2206 UTC).

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 22 Starlink satellites from California

February 22, 2024 Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the West Coast with another batch of 22 Starlink satellites at 8:11 p.m. PST Thursday (11:11 p.m. EST / 0411 UTC).

Intuitive Machines’ ‘Odysseus’ becomes first commercial lander to reach the Moon

February 22, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The IM-1 mission marked the first non-governmental lander to safely reach the Moon in history. The Nova-C lander named Odysseus landed at about 6:23 p.m. EST (2323 UTC).

Intuitive Machines’ Moon lander Odysseus reaches lunar orbit

February 21, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The spacecraft launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 15. It arrived in a 92 km circular orbit less than a week later.

SpaceX launches Indonesian satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

February 20, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The launch of Telkomsat’s Merah Putih 2 satellite came more than five years after the company’s last launch aboard a SpaceX rocket. Liftoff occurred at the opening of a two-hour window at 3:11 p.m. EST (2011 UTC).

Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off with space debris removal mission

February 18, 2024 Spaceflight Now

A small satellite that will inspect a discarded rocket body in orbit lifted off Sunday/Monday on a mission to develop techniques for removing space debris. The satellite built by Japan-based Astroscale launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC).