News – Page 108 – Spaceflight Now

Firefly reaches orbit in successful demonstration launch from California

October 1, 2022 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace said its privately-developed Alpha small satellite launcher achieved “100% mission success” on a test flight from California early Saturday, adding another provider to the growing roster of commercial companies that have successfully fired a rocket into orbit.

Live coverage: Crew dress rehearsal, SpaceX static fire completed Sunday

October 1, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday to begin the final few days of launch preparations before they depart on a five-month expedition on the International Space Station. The crew completed a a dress rehearsal Sunday, when they boarded the Dragon spacecraft on launch pad 39A to practice for launch day. SpaceX followed that with a test-firing of the Falcon 9’s main engines at 4 p.m. EDT (2000 GMT).

Live coverage: Firefly launches Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base

September 30, 2022 Stephen Clark

Firefly Aerospace successfully reached orbit with the second test flight of the company’s Alpha small satellite launcher. The Alpha rocket took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:01 a.m. PDT (3:01 a.m. EDT; 0701 GMT) Saturday.

SpaceX, NASA studying commercial crew mission to Hubble Space Telescope

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX will study the potential use of a commercial Dragon crew spacecraft to reboost and service the Hubble Space Telescope, a 32-year-old observatory last upgraded by a space shuttle in 2009, officials announced Thursday.

Firefly ready for another try to launch test flight of smallsat rocket

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

After a delay of several weeks due to technical issues, bad weather, and a busy launch range, Firefly Aerospace is set to try again early Friday to send its commercial small satellite launcher into orbit on a test flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

Russian Soyuz brings three cosmonauts home from space station

September 29, 2022 William Harwood

Three cosmonauts undocked from the International Space Station Thursday and returned to Earth aboard their Soyuz spacecraft, safely landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan to wrap up a 195-day mission.

Live coverage: Russian cosmonauts land in Kazakhstan

September 29, 2022 Stephen Clark

Three Russian cosmonauts rode a Soyuz spacecraft back to Earth Thursday after departing the International Space Station to wrap up 195 days. The Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft carrying cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, and Sergey Korsakov undocked from the station at 3:34 a.m. EDT (0734 GMT) and landed at 6:57 a.m. EDT (1057 GMT).

Live updates: NASA reports minimal damage to Kennedy Space Center

September 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

Watch live views from our cameras at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as Hurricane Ian moves away from Florida after bringing heavy rain and gusty winds to the Space Coast. NASA moved the Artemis 1 moon rocket back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building on Tuesday, and the agency reported minimal damage from the storm.

SpaceX, ULA postpone launches as Hurricane Ian moves toward Florida

September 28, 2022 Stephen Clark

The forecast track of Hurricane Ian across Central Florida has forced SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to postpone several launches planned in the coming days at Cape Canaveral, including the next crew flight to the International Space Station, a Starlink mission, and the liftoff of an Atlas 5 rocket.

Artemis 1 rocket moved to hangar as spaceport completes hurricane preps

September 27, 2022 Stephen Clark

NASA moved the Space Launch System moon rocket back into its hangar Tuesday to take shelter from Hurricane Ian, likely pushing back the next launch attempt for the agency’s long-delayed Artemis 1 lunar test flight until mid-November as Kennedy Space Center braces for high winds and flooding rains.