Mission Reports – Page 217

October 28, 2026

Breaking News

[ October 27, 2026 ] West Coast Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites Falcon 9
[ October 20, 2026 ] SpaceX launches Starlink 15-15 mission following a trio of scrubs Falcon 9
[ October 16, 2026 ] Blue Origin to add new Florida launch pads, seeks aggressive increase in New Glenn flight rate New Glenn
[ October 15, 2026 ] SpaceX launches a classified payload for U.S. Space Force Falcon 9
[ October 13, 2026 ] SpaceX launches NASA science and cargo to the International Space Station Falcon 9

Scientists thrilled with asteroid treasure returned by Japanese spacecraft

December 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Japanese space agency officials said Tuesday they found a “large number” of pitch black rock and dust particles after opening a capsule returned to Earth earlier this month by the Hayabusa 2 mission, giving eager scientists their first significant specimens ever brought back from an asteroid.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Japanese radar satellite

December 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched a radar imaging satellite Tuesday for the Japanese company Synspective. The small Earth observation payload lifted off from New Zealand at 5:09 a.m. EST (1009 GMT) aboard an Electron rocket. Rocket Lab did not attempt to recover the Electron’s first stage on this mission.

Russia’s Angara A5 rocket successful in second test flight

December 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

Six years after launching for the first time, a Russian Angara A5 heavy-lift rocket took off on its second test flight Monday and successfully delivered a dummy payload into orbit.

SiriusXM satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit

December 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

A hefty new satellite to beam SiriusXM radio programming across North America rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Sunday from Cape Canaveral on course to replace an aging broadcast station launched more than 15 years ago.

Virgin Galactic pilots land safely after aborting suborbital flight

December 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two pilots aboard Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocketplane safely landed back in New Mexico Saturday after a “computer communications loss” triggered an abort of the craft’s engine ignition sequence.

SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch attempt with SiriusXM satellite

December 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX called off the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral, halting the countdown less than a minute before liftoff to allow time to perform additional ground system checkouts before the mission’s next launch opportunity no earlier than Sunday.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s launches SiriusXM satellite

December 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

After calling a hold less than a minute before liftoff Friday, SpaceX launched the Maxar-built SXM 7 radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM Sunday. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT).

SpaceX plans to cap busy week with launch of satellite for SiriusXM

December 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

A massive radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM is set for liftoff Friday on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, punctuating a busy week for SpaceX that included the debut of a new-generation cargo ship for the International Space Station and a spectacular atmospheric test flight of a prototype rocket over South Texas.

Delta 4-Heavy launches U.S. spy satellite after months of delays

December 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

Running more than three months late, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket took off Thursday and carried a U.S. government spy satellite into an orbit thousands of miles above Earth in the first mission from the newly-renamed Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

China launches two small satellites for gravitational wave research

December 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two small Chinese satellites designed to detect gamma-ray bursts associated with gravitational waves launched Wednesday on a Long March 11 rocket, beginning an astrophysics research mission to study black holes and neutron stars.