
Mission Reports



ULA launches U.S. Space Force’s last SBIRS missile warning satellite
The departure at dawn of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Thursday sent aloft the U.S. military’s last Space Based Infrared System missile warning satellite, a $1.2 billion mission billed by the Space Force as a stepping stone to a new generation of more sensitive sentinels in the sky.




Cape Canaveral on the cusp of new records amid blistering launch rate
With two rockets from industry rivals United Launch Alliance and SpaceX ready for liftoff just 12 hours apart Thursday, the Cape Canaveral spaceport is poised to surpass the record for most missions in a year to fly into orbit from its launch pads. The launch day doubleheader would also mark the shortest span between two space launches from Florida’s Space Coast since 1967.



Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches with NRO payload
Rocket Lab launched a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office at 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT) Thursday, following delays to update software on the payload and to wait for better weather. Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher lifted off from New Zealand with a small classified payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency.