Spaceflight Now – Spaceflight Now

Falcon 9 beats the weather to launch 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral

September 29, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Friday night on another mission to deliver satellites into orbit for SpaceX’s Starlink internet service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 10:00 p.m. EDT Sept. 29 (0200 UTC on Sept. 30) after a delay for weather.

Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission slips a week due to spacecraft issue

September 28, 2023 Spaceflight Now

The launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission is being delayed a week due to allow “verifications” of parameters used by the spacecraft’s thrusters, the space agency confirmed Thursday. Liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is now scheduled for no earlier than Oct. 12.

Live coverage: Space station crew return to Earth after 371-day mission

September 27, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut return to Earth after an extended tour of duty aboard the International Space Station. The landing marked the end of a 370-day-21-hour-22-minute-long mission. It was the third longest human space flight in history and the longest by a U.S. astronaut.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites from California

September 25, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched its 42nd Starlink delivery mission of the year with a Falcon 9 lifting off from the West Coast carrying a batch of 21 satellites at 1:48 a.m. PDT (4:48 a.m. EDT / 0848 UTC) Monday morning.

Interview: Talking asteroid sample return

September 24, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith speaks with some of the key figures at Lockheed Martin, who helped bring the OSIRIS-REx mission to life and will continue working with both the spacecraft and the asteroid samples after the return capsule lands in the Utah desert.

As it happened: Seven-year asteroid adventure ends with sample return

September 24, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Live coverage as a capsule lands in the U.S. Army test range in the Utah desert carrying samples from the surface of asteroid Bennu. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (short for the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Explorer) mission has been on a seven-year journey to Bennu and back. If all goes according to plan the capsule will land under a parachute at about 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 UTC) on Sunday.

Another Falcon 9 hits 17-flight milestone with Starlink launch

September 23, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched from Cape Canaveral Saturday night with a first-stage booster making its 17th flight. It was only the second to reach this milestone. Liftoff, with 22 Starlink satellites occurred at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 UTC Sunday).

Artemis 2 astronauts go to the launch pad for launch day practice

September 22, 2023 Spaceflight Now

Ahead of launching the Artemis 2 mission no earlier than November 2024, the four astronauts donned test flight suits to go through a pre-launch simulation. They rode to launch pad 39B in Canoo electric vehicles and climbed the Mobile Launcher tower.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 on record-breaking 17th flight for booster

September 20, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX continued to push the boundaries of booster reusability Tuesday night with the launch of a Falcon 9 using a first stage rocket making its 17th flight. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral with 22 satellites for the Starlink internet network occurred at 11:38 p.m. EDT (0338 UTC).

Radar-imaging satellite lost as Rocket Lab Electron rocket suffers launch failure

September 19, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket, carrying a radar-imaging satellite for Capella Space, failed on Tuesday after a problem occurred two and half minutes into flight. It was the fourth failure in 41 flights for the small satellite launcher.