News – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launches 2,000th Starlink satellite

January 19, 2022

A package of 49 Starlink satellites that rode a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Tuesday night from Florida included the 2,000th spacecraft to launch into SpaceX’s broadband internet network.

First Chinese space mission of 2022 rockets into orbit

January 17, 2022

China launched a Long March 2D rocket Monday with another classified satellite, deploying the spacecraft into a polar orbit on the first of more than 40 Chinese Long March rocket missions planned in 2022.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with 49 Starlink satellites

January 17, 2022

Keeping up a rapid-fire launch cadence to begin 2022, SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 49 Starlink internet satellites. Liftoff from pad 39A occurred at 9:02 p.m. EST Tuesday (0202 GMT Wednesday), following a one-day delay to wait for better conditions in the offshore booster recovery zone north of the Bahamas.

Cape Canaveral’s busy January to continue with another Starlink launch

January 15, 2022

Forecasters expect brisk winds and chilly temperatures for a prime time, full moon launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with another batch of Starlink internet satellites Monday night from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Virgin Orbit celebrates third successful launch in a row

January 13, 2022

Virgin Orbit delivered seven small CubeSats for NASA, the U.S. military, Spire, and the Polish company SatRevolution into orbit Thursday with its air-launched rocket after release from a jumbo jet off the coast of California.

SpaceX launches 105 customer satellites on third Transporter rideshare mission

January 13, 2022

SpaceX launched 105 small satellites from Cape Canaveral on the company’s third Transporter rideshare mission Thursday, deploying payloads for commercial remote sensing companies, communications and data relay startups, and foreign governments.

Live coverage: Virgin Orbit’s air-launched rocket to deploy seven smallsats in orbit

January 13, 2022

Virgin Orbit aims to build on two successful small satellite launches last year with another flight of its air-dropped rocket Thursday off the coast of California, this time carrying seven mini-payloads into low Earth orbit. The company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft departed Mojave Air and Space Port and released the LauncherOne rocket to begin its climb into orbit at 2:52 p.m. PST (5:52 p.m. EST; 2252 GMT).

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with 105 satellites

January 13, 2022

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral with 105 satellites ranging from the size of a soda can to a washing machine. Liftoff occurred at 10:25 a.m. EST (1525 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast for a propulsive landing about eight-and-a-half minutes later.

SpaceX rocket to land back at Cape Canaveral Thursday

January 12, 2022

SpaceX plans to land a Falcon 9 rocket booster back at Cape Canaveral around eight-and-a-half minutes after launch Thursday in the company’s first onshore rocket recovery since last June.

SpaceX preps for first of four ‘Transporter’ rideshare launches this year

January 12, 2022

With its small satellite launch business booming, SpaceX is set to double its cadence of dedicated rideshare missions this year, beginning with the liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral with 105 spacecraft for customers in 20 countries.