July 2024 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

NASA plans for space station’s demise with new SpaceX ‘Deorbit Vehicle’

July 18, 2024 William Harwood

The ISS Deorbit Vehicle, or DV, will be a custom-built, one-of-a-kind spacecraft needed to make sure the space station re-enters the atmosphere at the precise place and in the proper orientation to insure any wreckage that survives the 3,000-degree heat of re-entry will crash harmlessly into the sea.

NASA cancels half-billion dollar water-ice-seeking VIPER Moon rover

July 18, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Much of the rover was complete and it was going through a series of testing when the project was scrapped. NASA said Astrobotic’s Griffin lander, which was supposed to carry VIPER to the Moon’s South Pole, will still proceed with its mission.

Vaya Space receives pathfinding liquid oxygen tank shell for its Dauntless rocket

July 17, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The delivery on Monday, July 15, came from California-based Scorpius Space Launch Company. Vaya Space is aiming to launch its first Dauntless rocket from Cape Canaveral in 2026.

SpaceX requests public safety determination for early return to flight for its Falcon 9 rocket

July 16, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The FAA ordered an investigation following a second stage failure during the Starlink 9-3 mission on July 11.

Starliner crew confident spacecraft will bring them safely home

July 11, 2024 William Harwood

Helium leaks and thruster issues prompted NASA to extend their stay aboard the space station indefinitely — Wednesday marked their 35th day in orbit — while engineers carry out tests and analysis to better understand what caused the problems and to make sure the spacecraft can safely being Wilmore and Williams home.

SpaceX Falcon 9 second stage fails leaving Starlink satellites in wrong orbit

July 11, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

It was the first failure of a Falcon 9 rocket in flight since 2015. Liftoff occurred at 7:35 p.m. PDT (10:35 p.m. EDT, 0235 UTC) from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

SpaceX launches Türksat 6A satellite, Turkey’s first domestically-built satellite

July 8, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The spacecraft is Turkey’s first home-grown communications satellite. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 7:30 p.m. EDT (2330 UTC).

European Space Agency launches inaugural Ariane 6 rocket, encounters upper stage issue

July 7, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The first flight of the rocket will carry several payloads unto low Earth orbit for a variety of customers, including NASA. The rocket launched from French Guiana on July 9, 2024, at 4 p.m. GFT (3 p.m. EDT, 1900 UTC), however, it ran into the anomaly about an hour and 50 minutes into the mission.

SpaceX launches 100th Direct to Cell Starlink satellite on Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral

July 2, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The overnight mission saw the return of Falcon 9 booster, tail number B1073, which experienced an abort as its engine began firing during the June 14 launch attempt of the Starlink 10-2 mission. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was at 4:55 a.m. EDT (0855 UTC).

Firefly launches Alpha rocket on NASA mission

July 2, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

Launch of a collection of eight CubeSats as part of NASA’s ELaNA 43 (Educational Launch of Nanosatellites 43) mission occurred at 9:04 p.m. PDT (12:04 a.m. EDT / 0404 UTC). Wednesday night/Thursday morning.