Mission Reports
Mission Reports
Falcon 9
Crew completes spaceship fit check ahead of all-private mission to orbit
The four private citizens who will fly into orbit later this month on a chartered SpaceX capsule visited their spaceship at Cape Canaveral this week for fit checks. On Wednesday, officials released the first pictures of the cupola window attached to the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft, a new addition that will offer the crew expansive views of planet Earth from an altitude of more than 350 miles.
Mission Reports
NASA’s hopes waning for SLS test flight this year
The earliest NASA’s first Space Launch System moon rocket could roll out from the Vehicle Assembly Building to its seaside launch complex in Florida is in late November, officials told Spaceflight Now, leaving little time to conduct a critical fueling test, roll the rocket back into the VAB for final closeouts, then return to the pad for liftoff before the end of the year.
Atlas 5
Mission Reports
Falcon 9
SpaceX launches resupply mission to International Space Station
SpaceX launched a Dragon cargo capsule from Florida on a thundering predawn ascent into orbit early Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off the company’s 23rd commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station. The rocket’s reusable booster was the first to land on a new SpaceX drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
Mission Reports
Astra rocket fails after early engine shutdown
Astra’s small satellite launcher suffered an engine failure just after liftoff from Alaska Saturday, causing the rocket to tilt sideways before recovering and climbing into the upper atmosphere with its four remaining engines. The rocket later veered from its flight corridor, and the range safety officer issued a flight termination command before the mission reached orbit.
Falcon 9
Mission Reports
Astra aborts launch attempt in Alaska
The commercial space company Astra aborted its third orbital launch attempt from Alaska just before liftoff Friday. The company did not immediately confirm when it will try again to launch its compact two-stage launcher sized to haul small satellites into space, but another countdown could come as soon as Saturday.
Mission Reports