Mission Reports

July 24, 2026

Breaking News

[ July 23, 2026 ] Live coverage: SpaceX ready for 2nd attempt to launch Starship Flight 13 following post-abort engine work Artemis
[ July 21, 2026 ] SpaceX launches novel geosynchronous robotic servicing satellite on decade-long mission Falcon 9
[ July 16, 2026 ] Post-ignition anomaly causes abort of SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 Artemis
[ July 4, 2026 ] Semiconductor manufacturing test bed flies alongside Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 launch Falcon 9
[ July 1, 2026 ] SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB Falcon 9

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches four satellites

August 16, 2019 Stephen Clark

Three days after high winds scrubbed a launch attempt Friday, Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket with four satellites from New Zealand at 1212 GMT (8:12 a.m. EDT) Monday.

Smallsat companies teaming up on deorbit experiment

August 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

TriSept Corp. has announced plans for a commercial technology demonstration mission set for launch next year on a Rocket Lab Electron vehicle to test a deployable conductive tape, made by Tethers Unlimited, that could help small satellites more quickly fall out of orbit at the end of their missions.

Photos: Atlas 5 blasts off with U.S. Air Force communications payload

August 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 8 with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite, the second launch from Florida’s Coast in a span of less than 35 hours.

Sierra Nevada selects ULA’s Vulcan rocket to launch Dream Chaser missions

August 14, 2019 Stephen Clark

Sierra Nevada Corp. has booked at least six launches on United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket to carry Dream Chaser supply ships into orbit on cargo runs to the International Space Station beginning in 2021, becoming the first confirmed customer for ULA’s next-generation launcher.

ExoMars parachute failures could jeopardize 2020 launch date

August 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

The European Space Agency has confirmed a parachute for the ExoMars rover mission set for launch next July failed during a test over Sweden earlier this month, the project’s second parachute test accident since May.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket takes off with the Amos 17 satellite

August 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

These photos taken Aug. 6 show the liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Israeli-owned Amos 17 communications satellite, backdropped by dreary skies after thunderstorms passed through Cape Canaveral earlier in the day.

Rocket Lab to begin booster recovery experiments later this year

August 12, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand, set for Friday, will carry a data recorder to measure the aerothermal environments encountered by the Electron launcher’s first stage during descent back into the atmosphere, information engineers say is crucial to successfully achieving the company’s newly-announced plan to recover and reuse the booster.