Mission Reports – Page 68 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches first mission from Virginia

January 24, 2023 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched its first mission from a new launch site in Virginia Tuesday. The company’s small satellite launcher took off from Virginia’s Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT), carrying three small commercial satellites into orbit for HawkEye 360.

Another countdown begins for Rocket Lab’s first launch from Virginia

January 23, 2023 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab is set to fill up its small Electron launcher with propellant fire it into space from Virginia Tuesday evening with three commercial satellites, the company’s second try to launch its first mission from U.S. soil after bad weather thwarted attempts last month.

Astronauts complete spacewalk to prep for new ISS solar arrays

January 20, 2023 Stephen Clark

Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA astronaut Nicole Mann suited up and floated outside the International Space Station Friday for a spacewalk to prepare the lab for arrival of another pair of new solar arrays later this year.

SpaceX orbits 51 more Starlink satellites in year’s first launch from Vandenberg

January 19, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first launch of the year from California, and fourth mission overall in 2023, added 51 more satellites to the Starlink internet constellation, keeping pace with the company’s goal of 100 Falcon rocket launches this year.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites from California

January 19, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 7:43 a.m. PST (10:43 a.m. EST; 1543 GMT) Thursday with 51 more Starlink internet satellites. The mission was delayed more than a week due to bad weather.

SpaceX delivers GPS satellite to 12,000-mile-high orbit

January 18, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket just after sunrise Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, hauling a GPS navigation satellite into orbit to replace an aging 16-year-old spacecraft in the global positioning network trusted to guide everything from military weapons to civilian commuters.

GPS navigation satellite set for launch on SpaceX rocket

January 17, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s second launch for the U.S. military in three days is set to blast off from Florida and deliver a GPS navigation satellite into orbit Wednesday, reinforcing the global positioning and timing network as four more GPS spacecraft are in storage at a Lockheed Martin factory in Colorado to be launched as needed over the next few years.

Falcon Heavy hauls military satellites to high orbit after spectacular sunset launch

January 16, 2023 Stephen Clark

A U.S. military data relay satellite and a rideshare platform with its own suite of payloads rocketed into a sunset sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday on a Falcon Heavy launcher, putting on a dazzling show for local residents and visitors as the rocket’s two side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral for landing.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s fifth Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off at twilight

January 14, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s fifth Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:56 p.m. EST (2255 GMT) Sunday with a U.S. Space Force communications satellite and a rideshare spacecraft hosting five military payloads. The Falcon Heavy’s two reusable side boosters returned to Cape Canaveral for landings about eight minutes after launch. The launch was delayed from Saturday after preparations ran behind schedule.

U.S. military payloads mated to SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for weekend launch

January 13, 2023 Stephen Clark

Two U.S. military satellites set to ride SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket into geosynchronous orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth were mated with their launch vehicle Friday at Kennedy Space Center ahead of a scheduled sunset launch this weekend.