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Space solar power experiment, 36 Planet imaging satellites on SpaceX rideshare mission
The 114 small satellites set for launch Tuesday on SpaceX’s first mission of the year include 36 spacecraft for Planet’s commercial remote sensing fleet, a space-based solar power experiment, and space tugs to piggyback payloads into different orbits.
Military officials forecast 87 launches from Florida’s Space Coast in 2023
The U.S. Space Force is preparing for as many as 87 launches from Florida's Space Coast in 2023, including dozens more SpaceX missions and the expected debuts of United Launch Alliance's Vulcan and Relativity's Terran 1 rockets.
SpaceX launch of Israeli satellite marks company’s 61st mission of 2022
SpaceX launched its 61st and final mission of 2022 Thursday night from California, placing an Israeli Earth-imaging satellite into orbit and tying a 1980 record for the most successful flights by a rocket family in a single year.
VideoLive coverage: SpaceX launches Israeli satellite from California
SpaceX's final launch of the year has blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, with a Falcon 9 rocket boosting a $186 million Earth-imaging satellite into orbit for the Israeli company ImageSat International. Liftoff occurred at 11:38 p.m. PST Thursday (2:38 a.m. EST; 0738 GMT Friday), and the Falcon 9 booster returned to Vandenberg for landing less than 10 minutes later.
VideoSpaceX launches first mission for Starlink Gen2 constellation
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday with 54 more Starlink internet satellites, a mission to begin populating a new orbital shell authorized by federal regulators earlier this month for the company's Starlink Gen2 network.
Astronauts unfurl fourth roll-out solar array outside International Space Station
Another roll-out solar array was installed and deployed by astronauts Frank Rubio and Josh Cassada outside the International Space Station on on a spacewalk Thursday, a day later than previously planned after the space station needed to dodge a piece of space junk.
Two Pléiades Neo Earth-imaging satellites lost in failure of Europe’s Vega C rocket
The final two spacecraft in Airbus's four-satellite, 600 million-euro commercial Pléiades Neo Earth observation fleet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after launch from French Guiana Tuesday night, falling victim to a failure of a European Vega C rocket.
VideoLive coverage: Vega C fails after launch with two Earth observation satellites
Europe's Vega C rocket failed a few minutes after launch from French Guiana at 8:47 p.m. EST Tuesday (0147 GMT Wednesday), falling back into the Atlantic Ocean north of the launch site. Two Pléiades Neo high-resolution optical Earth-imaging satellites for Airbus were destroyed in the failure.
Two Airbus Earth-imaging satellites poised for launch on Vega C rocket
Two Pléiades Neo Earth observation satellites are set to join Airbus's constellation of high-resolution optical imagers with a launch Tuesday night from French Guiana on the first commercial flight of Europe's Vega C rocket, a mission delayed from November to change out suspect hardware on the launcher's payload fairing.
VideoLive coverage: Rocket Lab launch on hold due to unfavorable winds aloft
Unfavorable upper level winds kept Rocket Lab's Electron launcher on the ground Sunday night in Virginia. Overnight the company announced it would not try again on Monday due to a continuing forecast for strong upper level winds. The Electron rocket is to carry into orbit three commercial radio frequency monitoring satellites for HawkEye 360.