News – Page 112 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule streaks to predawn splashdown in Gulf of Mexico

January 11, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX-owned Dragon cargo capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico early Wednesday, returning 4,400 pounds of science equipment and hardware from the International Space Station after a 45-day resupply mission.

Live coverage: Starlink launch from California delayed to next week

January 10, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX plans to launch its first Starlink mission of 2023 no earlier than Jan. 19 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, following delays caused by bad weather and to examine data from the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage. The Falcon will head southeast over the Pacific Ocean, targeting an orbit inclined 70 degrees to the equator to deploy the payloads into “Group 2” of the Starlink constellation.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy engines test-fired at Kennedy Space Center

January 10, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired the 27 engines on its next Falcon Heavy rocket at 12:45 p.m. EST (1745 GMT) Tuesday in preparation for a launch later this week for the U.S. Space Force. The Falcon Heavy static fire occurred on pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center.

Satellites fail to reach orbit as first launch from UK ends in disappointment

January 10, 2023 Clive Simpson

An investigation has been launched after an attempt to make space history by sending satellites into orbit from British soil for the first time ended in failure Monday night due to an anomaly in the second stage of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.

SpaceX sends 40 more OneWeb internet satellites into orbit

January 10, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Monday night with 40 more internet satellites for OneWeb, nudging the network closer to full operational capability. The Falcon 9 booster returned to Cape Canaveral for landing eight minutes later.

SpaceX’s first Starlink launch of 2023 set to fly from California

January 9, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first launch of Starlink internet satellites this year was set to blast off from California’s Central Coast Monday night, but high winds and storms could stood in the way of the Falcon 9 rocket lifting off with 51 new broadband relay stations. Another launch attempt is planned Tuesday night.

Live coverage: Virgin Orbit rocket fails before reaching orbit on first UK mission

January 9, 2023 Stephen Clark

Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped LauncherOne rocket failed after release from the company’s Boeing 747 carrier aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean at approximately 6:08 p.m. EST (2308 GMT), following the plane’s departure from Spaceport Cornwall in South West England. The mission faltered before placing nine small spacecraft into orbit on the first satellite launch based out of the United Kingdom.

SpaceX cargo capsule undocks from space station, heads for splashdown

January 9, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station Monday to close out a month-and-a-half of docked operations, heading to a predawn splashdown Wednesday off the coast of Florida with several tons of hardware and experiment specimens.

Weather favorable for SpaceX’s late-night launch for OneWeb

January 9, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is set to deliver 40 more internet satellites into orbit for OneWeb with a late-night blastoff Monday from Cape Canaveral aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, followed by landing of the first stage booster back at the Florida spaceport less than 10 minutes later.

Virgin Orbit counting down to first historic satellite launch from British soil

January 8, 2023 Clive Simpson

A new chapter in spaceflight history will be made Monday when the first ever satellites to be launched into orbit from Western Europe begin their journey into space inside a rocket slung beneath a converted jumbo jet carrier aircraft that will take off from Cornwall on the southwest peninsula of England.