Will Robinson-Smith – Spaceflight Now

Launch preview: ULA to launch first national security mission on a Vulcan rocket

August 12, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission, dubbed USSF-106, will be the first Vulcan rocket launch since the vehicle was certified by the United States Space Force in late March. Liftoff from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is schedule for 7:59 p.m. EDT (2359 UTC).

Jim Lovell, Apollo 8 & 13 astronaut, dies at 97

August 8, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Lovell served as the pilot of the Command Module for Apollo 8 and the commander of the Apollo 13 mission. NASA said he died Thursday, Aug. 7, in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.

West Coast Starlink launch slips at least another day

August 8, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 17-4 mission will add another 24 satellites to the growing megaconstellation in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has further delayed this launch to Wednesday, August 13, local time.

ULA’s Tory Bruno lays out plans for ramping up launch cadence

August 7, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

United Launch Alliance will launch the USSF-106 mission as its first flight for the U.S. Space Force using a Vulcan rocket. The vehicle will carry two satellite missions onboard.

Poor weather scrubs SpaceX’s second launch attempt to launch 24 Amazon Project Kuiper satellites from CAPE CANAVERAL

August 6, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission, dubbed KF-02, is the fourth flight to date of Project Kuiper satellites. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is scheduled for 8:57 a.m. EDT (1257 UTC) on Sunday, Aug. 10.

Starlink mission marks SpaceX’s 450th flight-proven Falcon booster launched

August 3, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 10-30 mission will add 28 more satellites to SpaceX’s low Earth orbit megaconstellation. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 3:57 a.m. EDT (0757 UTC) on Monday.

NASA, SpaceX ‘thread the clouds’ to launch Crew-11 to the International Space Station

August 1, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Crew Dragon mission was delayed a day due to cumulus clouds, but had enough clearance to allow for a launch on August 1. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC).

Launch preview: SpaceX, NASA launches Crew-11 following 1-day weather scrub

July 31, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The four members of the SpaceX Crew-11 flight were previously set to fly on different missions before they ended up as a quartet on the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for no earlier than Friday, Aug. 1, at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC).

SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

July 29, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 10-29 mission added another 28 satellites into the low Earth orbit megaconstellation. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 11:37 p.m. EDT (0337 UTC).

SpaceX, NASA conduct static fire test of a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the Crew-11 launch

July 28, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The rescheduled test came a day after a launch day rehearsal with the Crew-11 astronauts and cosmonaut in the loop, referred to as a dry dress rehearsal. The Crew-11 launch is currently scheduled for Thursday, July 31 at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 UTC).