Mission Reports – Page 85 – Spaceflight Now

Russian cosmonaut, European astronaut complete joint spacewalk

July 21, 2022 Stephen Clark

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti headed outside the International Space Station on a rare joint spacewalk Thursday. They continued outfitting a European robotic arm and deployed 10 nanosatellites for radio technology experiments.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 46 Starlink satellites from California

July 21, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 32nd launch of 2022 broke the company’s record for most Falcon 9 rocket flights in a calendar year, and cut in half the shortest turnaround time between two Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket with 46 more Starlink internet satellites occurred Friday at 10:39 a.m. PDT (1:39 p.m. EDT; 1739 GMT). A launch attempt Thursday was scrubbed with less than a minute remaining in the countdown.

NASA tentatively targeting Aug. 29 for maiden flight of SLS moon rocket

July 20, 2022 William Harwood

NASA is tentatively targeting Aug. 29 for the long-awaited maiden flight of the agency’s huge Space Launch System moon rocket, officials said Wednesday. But they cautioned major challenges remain for the oft-delayed mega rocket and an official date will not be set until later this summer.

SpaceX going for record-breaking 32nd launch of the year

July 20, 2022 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is poised to launch 46 more Starlink internet satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The mission will mark SpaceX’s 32nd launch since Jan. 1, breaking the company’s record for Falcon 9 flights in a year.

NASA selects SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to launch Roman Space Telescope

July 19, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Tuesday it awarded SpaceX a $255 million contract to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the agency’s next flagship astronomy mission, on a Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in 2026.

Supply chain issues delay Northrop Grumman’s next space station cargo flight

July 19, 2022 Stephen Clark

Northrop Grumman’s next resupply flight to the International Space Station has been delayed from mid-August to mid-October by supply chain issues, a company spokesperson said Tuesday.

Rocket Lab’s next launch for the NRO postponed for software updates

July 18, 2022 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s next mission for the National Reconnaissance Office — the second of two back-to-back launches for the U.S. spy satellite agency — has been postponed to complete a software update on the classified payload, the NRO said Monday.

China’s heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket rolls out with new space station module

July 18, 2022 Stephen Clark

China moved a heavy-lift Long March 5B rocket to its launch pad Monday in preparation for liftoff this weekend with a 22-ton module for the country’s Tiangong space station, a mission that could end with another uncontrolled re-entry of the Long March 5B’s large core stage.

Long March rocket launches two radar satellites for China Siwei

July 18, 2022 Stephen Clark

Two Earth observation satellites for China Siwei, a commercial remote sensing company, launched Friday on a Long March 2C rocket into an orbit more than 300 miles above Earth.

SpaceX deploys 53 more Starlink satellites on record-tying 31st launch of the year

July 17, 2022 Stephen Clark

Fifty-three more Starlink internet satellites thundered into orbit from Cape Canaveral atop a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday on SpaceX’s 31st launch of the year, tying the company’s number of missions for all of 2021 and maintaining a pace of one flight per week.