Mission Reports – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

June 1, 2023

Breaking News

[ May 31, 2023 ] Private astronauts splash down to close out 9-day commercial research mission Mission Reports
[ May 30, 2023 ] Live coverage: SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites from California Falcon 9
[ May 30, 2023 ] Live coverage: U.S.-Saudi commercial astronaut crew returns to Earth Mission Reports
[ May 30, 2023 ] Chinese astronaut launch breaks record for most people in orbit Mission Reports
[ May 29, 2023 ] Live coverage: China launches three-man crew to Tiangong space station Mission Reports

Russian cosmonauts complete spacewalk to relocate experiment airlock

May 3, 2023 William Harwood

Cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday, unbolted an experiment airlock from the Rassvet docking compartment and then connected it to Russia’s Nauka multi-purpose laboratory module in a 7-hour, 11-minute excursion.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy hits bullseye with ascent to near-geosynchronous orbit

May 1, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday night and deployed a sophisticated internet satellite for Viasat into a circular orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator, delivering for a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink broadband network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center

April 30, 2023 Stephen Clark

On the mission’s third launch attempt, SpaceX sent a Falcon Heavy rocket aloft at 8:26 p.m. EDT Sunday (0026 UTC Monday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly five-hour mission to a near-geosynchronous orbit carried the first satellite for the ViaSat 3 space-based internet network, along with two smaller rideshare payloads.

Viasat seeks replacement for Ariane 6 for launch of third ViaSat 3 satellite

April 30, 2023 Stephen Clark

On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch of an identical spacecraft off of Europe’s long-delayed Ariane 6 rocket, and is considering bids from other rocket companies.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with two O3b internet satellites

April 28, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with a pair of O3b internet satellites for SES Friday evening from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but a last-minute abort for a Falcon Heavy mission later in the night prevented the company from pulling off a launch doubleheader.

SpaceX clears Falcon Heavy for liftoff after launch pad lightning strike

April 28, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says engineers completed checks of the Falcon Heavy rocket, its satellite payloads, and ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center after a lightning strike on the launch pad’s tower Thursday night, part of a wave of severe weather that forced officials to delay the launch attempt.

First Arab spacewalker heads outside International Space Station

April 28, 2023 Stephen Clark

Veteran NASA astronaut Steve Bowen and Emirati astronaut Sultan Alneyadi suited up and floated outside the International Space Station Friday for a spacewalk to prepare the outpost for new solar arrays. Alneyadi became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter has now flown more than 50 times

April 27, 2023 Clive Simpson

NASA’s pioneering Mars helicopter Ingenuity continues to outperform its design specifications, having now notched up more than 50 record-breaking forays across the Red Planet’s surface, 10 times as many flights as originally planned for.

SpaceX launches 46 Starlink satellites from California

April 27, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched its 40th mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on April 27, boosting 46 more satellites into orbit for the Starlink internet network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Starlink 3-5 mission from California

April 26, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched the Starlink 3-5 mission from California Thursday morning, following a last-minute abort Wednesday due to concerns about landing of the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:40 a.m. PDT (9:40 a.m. EDT; 1340 UTC) with 46 Starlink internet satellites.