Mission Reports – Page 249

October 19, 2026

Breaking News

[ 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
[ October 13, 2026 ] Launch preview: NASA, SpaceX to launch new solar arrays, 6,300 pounds of cargo to the space station Falcon 9
[ October 12, 2026 ] SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites from California Falcon 9

China launches final Beidou navigation satellite

June 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

China launched the capstone satellite for the Beidou navigation constellation Tuesday, adding the final piece to a global network to rival the U.S. military’s GPS fleet providing positioning, timing, and search and rescue services.

SLS booster segments arrive in Florida, but stacking on hold until core stage test

June 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Fueled segments of the solid rocket boosters that will lift off on the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System have arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but officials will hold off on stacking the boosters until the SLS core stage completes a crucial test-firing later this year.

Atlas 5 rocket runs through practice countdown before Mars rover launch

June 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Atlas 5 rocket that will send NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars next month aced a countdown rehearsal Monday at Cape Canaveral, helping ensure the United Launch Alliance-built rocket is ready for liftoff during the rover’s 23-day launch window.

U.S. military to award smallsat launch contracts using COVID-19 relief funds

June 19, 2020 Stephen Clark

The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense industrial base amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Vega rocket’s return-to-flight launch waits for improved wind conditions

June 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

The first launch of an Italian-made Vega rocket since an in-flight failure nearly one year ago has been postponed to no earlier than Monday night due to unfavorable upper level winds over the Vega launch base in Kourou, French Guiana.

Photos: NASA’s Perseverance rover buttoned up for launch

June 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA’s Perseverance rover has been closed up inside its protective aeroshell, the structure that will protect the spacecraft when it plunges into the Martian atmosphere, in preparation for launch no earlier than July 20 from Cape Canaveral.

China launches Earth observation satellite

June 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Gaofen Earth-imaging satellite and two secondary payloads launched Wednesday aboard a Chinese Long March 2D rocket.

Fitted with super-clean sample tubes, NASA’s next Mars rover nears launch date

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Perseverance rover’s sterilized sample tubes — designed to seal Martian rock and sediment for eventual return to Earth — are installed on the spacecraft as teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center prepare to enclose the rover inside the payload shroud of its Atlas 5 launcher for liftoff July 20.

NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021

June 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date — after the coronavirus pandemic forced a more than 50 percent reduction in staff levels at the observatory’s assembly and test facility.

Last Beidou satellite launch postponed by rocket trouble

June 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Ground crews at the Xichang launch center in China postponed the launch of a Long March 3B rocket into orbit Tuesday that was to complete the deployment of the Beidou navigation fleet, a project approved by the Chinese government in 1994 to end reliance on the U.S. military’s GPS network.