News – Page 61 – Spaceflight Now

December 28, 2025

Breaking News

[ December 27, 2025 ] SpaceX scrubs launch Italian Earth observation satellite due to ground systems issue Falcon 9
[ December 26, 2025 ] Former ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno joins Blue Origin News
[ December 22, 2025 ] H3 rocket suffers upper stage anomaly, fails to correctly deploy navigation satellite H3
[ December 22, 2025 ] Tory Bruno steps down as President, CEO of ULA News
[ December 21, 2025 ] Astronauts, launch teams practice Artemis 2 countdown Artemis

SpaceX delays first Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability

December 15, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX was looking to rebound from a week of scuttled launches with a Falcon 9 launch from California but the Starlink 7-9 mission was delayed to Dec. 28 for unspecified reasons.

Rocket Lab successfully completes return-to-flight Electron launch

December 14, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Rocket Lab launched its first flight of the Electron rocket since a failure on Sept. 19. The 42nd mission for the small-satellite launcher lifted off on Dec. 15 from New Zealand 1705 NZDT (0405 UTC or 11:05 p.m. EST).

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket set for return to flight mission

December 14, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

After more than a year of being sidelined, Blue Origin is preparing for a resurgence of its New Shepard rocket suborbital flights. The launch window for its uncrewed return-to-flight mission dubbed NS-24 opens on Monday at 9:30 a.m. CST (1530 UTC).

SpaceX standing down from Starlink 6-34 mission Wednesday due to poor Atlantic weather

December 11, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX is standing down from a launch attempt of the Starlink 6-34 mission onboard its Falcon 9 rocket. It comes less than a day after they had to scrub the launch at the T-1 minute mark due to strong, ground-level winds at Cape Canaveral.

Falcon Heavy launch of secretive X-37B military spaceplane on hold

December 11, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Falcon Heavy is returning to the hangar and the launch of the USSF-52 mission with the X-37B spaceplane is on hold. A ground issue scrubbed an earlier launch attempt and now required work on the vehicle itself.

ULA’s first mission with its Vulcan rocket slides to January launch window

December 10, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

The debut of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is slipping from late December into early January, according to the company’s president and CEO, Tory Bruno. In a social media post on Sunday, Bruno said the planned Dec. 24 launch date was no longer a viable option.

Falcon 9 flies from California with 22 Starlink satellites, SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days

December 8, 2023 Spaceflight Now

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted from the West Coast with another batch of satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink network at 12:03 a.m. PST Friday (3:03 a.m. EST / 0803 UTC). Including Starship test flights this was SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days.

SpaceX sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on 90th Falcon launch of 2023

December 6, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

A Falcon 9 carrying 23 Starlink satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:07 p.m. EST (0507 UTC). This launch marked the 280th Falcon 9 launch to date.

Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January

December 6, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

In a blend of interesting circumstances and happenstance, two private companies and Japan’s space agency are all poised to land on the Moon in the back half of January 2024.

SpaceX conducts static fire test ahead of fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023

December 3, 2023 Will Robinson-Smith

Following two Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida, SpaceX closed out the first weekend of December with a Falcon Heavy static fire test. The ignition of the 27 Merlin engines comes a week ahead of the planned launch of the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B spaceplane.