Will Robinson-Smith – Page 18

U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane lands following 434-day orbital mission

March 7, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The secretive winged spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on Dec. 29, 2023 to conduct a classified mission. The landing concludes the seventh flight of the Boeing-built spacecraft since 2010.

Launch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8 following Monday scrub

March 3, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The eighth launch of SpaceX’s fully integrated Starship rocket will largely repeat the mission objectives of the previous flight, which saw the breakup of the Ship upper stage of the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX is currently targeting Thursday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. EST, 2330 UTC).

Arianespace successfully launches Ariane 6’s first commercial launch following Monday scrub

March 3, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The launch will be managed by Arianespace and will carry the third satellite for the Optical Space Component (CSO– Composante Spatiale Optique) program. Liftoff is scheduled for Thursday, March 6, at 1:24 p.m. Kourou time (11:24 a.m. EST, 1624 UTC).

Firefly Aerospace aces Moon landing on first attempt

March 2, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The successful touchdown marks the beginning of a planned 14-day mission on the lunar surface. The Blue Ghost lander is designed to power down after operating for a few hours into the lunar nighttime, which begins on March 16.

As it happened: Firefly Aerospace completes first Moon landing with Blue Ghost

March 1, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The robotic lander will attempt to touch down on the lunar surface at Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille Sunday morning. The anticipated landing time is no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST (0834 UTC).

SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

March 1, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission came shortly after announcing they crossed 5 million subscribers to the Starlink internet service. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened on Sunday, March 2, at 9:24 p.m. EST (0224 UTC on March 3).

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer, AstroForge’s Odin face post-deployment challenges

February 28, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

Two spacecraft that launched as rideshare payloads on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission are dealing with post-deployment challenges that might put the missions in jeopardy.

SpaceX launches Intuitive Machines’ 2nd Moon lander, 3 rideshare spacecraft

February 25, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The launch is a rideshare mission with secondary payloads from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, AstroForge and Epic Aerospace. Liftoff happened Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC).

SpaceX launches Starlink 12-13 mission on third attempt

February 22, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 12-13 mission includes 13 satellites that have Direct to Cell capabilities. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 10:34 p.m. EST (0334 UTC on Feb. 27).

SpaceX crosses 8,000 total Starlink satellites launched with latest Falcon 9 flight

February 22, 2025 Will Robinson-Smith

The Starlink 15-1 mission mission launched to a 70 degree inclination, which was previously used for Starlink missions in Group 2 and Starshield missions for the NRO. Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 5:38 p.m. PST (8:38 p.m. EST, 0138 UTC).