2025 – Page 26 – Spaceflight Now

Fram2 astronauts arrive in Florida ahead of polar spaceflight

March 28, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The four astronauts will spend three to five days in a free-flier Dragon mission that will see them orbit over the north and south poles. The crew arrived in Florida on Monday for their final week of quarantine before launch.

NASA switches Starliner crew to SpaceX Dragon as testing continues on troubled Boeing capsule

March 28, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Zena Cardman, the original commander of the Crew-9 mission, will get to fly to space as the commander of Crew-11. Launch is set for no earlier than July 2025.

U.S. Space Force certifies ULA’s Vulcan rocket to begin launching national security missions

March 27, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The conclusion of certification closes out a process that began in September 2016 and saw the government closely track the development of Vulcan alongside United Launch Alliance. Its first National Security Space Launch mission is targeting liftoff over the summer.

SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB

March 26, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission marks the largest number of Starlink V2 Mini satellites launched in a single batch from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 3:11 p.m. PDT (6:11 p.m. EDT, 2211 UTC).

Rocket Lab launches 8 wildfire detection satellites for OroraTech on Electron rocket

March 26, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

These first eight satellites are part of OroraTech’s plan to deploy up to 100 satellites by 2028. Liftoff from Mahia, New Zealand happened at 4:30 a.m. NZT on March 27 (11:30 a.m. EDT, 1530 UTC on March 26).

SpaceX launches national security satellite for NRO on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

March 24, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission was the fifth of 2025 featuring spacecraft developed by the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff of the NROL-69 mission from pad 40 happened at 1:48 p.m. EDT (1748 UTC).

SpaceX launches 450th Falcon 9 rocket, breaks booster turnaround record on NRO mission

March 20, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The NROL-57 mission was the eighth launch supporting the National Reconnaissance Office’s proliferated architecture satellite constellation. Liftoff happened at 11:49 p.m. PDT (2:49 a.m. EDT, 0649 UTC).

SpaceX Dragon Freedom splashes down off coast of Florida, ending Crew-9 mission

March 18, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Dragon Freedom undocked from the space station at 1:05 a.m. EDT (1705 UTC) on Tuesday to begin its roughly 17-hour trip to splash down along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The parachute-supported splash down happened at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 UTC).

SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites Tuesday afternoon Falcon 9 flight

March 18, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The launch came amid the return of three astronauts and a cosmonaut from the International Space Station. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 3:57 p.m. EDT (1957 UTC).

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 concludes successful, 14-day mission on the Moon

March 18, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The lunar operation marks the longest commercial mission on the Moon to date. Firefly Aerospace is in the midst of preparing for its next trip to the Moon, which is set to launch in 2026.