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SpaceX Dragon Freedom splashes down off coast of Florida, ending Crew-9 mission
Dragon Freedom undocked from the space station at 1:05 a.m. EDT (1705 UTC) on Tuesday to begin its roughly 17-hour trip to splash down along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The parachute-supported splash down happened at 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 UTC).
Fresh crew docks at space station; Starliner astronauts expected to return to Earth Tuesday
Approaching from behind and below, the Crew Dragon, launched Friday evening from the Kennedy Space Center, passed 1,300 feet directly under the station before looping up to a point 720 feet directly ahead of the outpost. From there, it glided straight in for docking at the Harmony module's forward port at 12:04 a.m. EDT.
VideoNASA, SpaceX launch Crew-10 to begin flight to the International Space Station
The mission will be the 14th time that a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carries humans to the International Space Station. The mission launched on Friday, March 14, at 7:03 p.m. EDT (2303 UTC).
Starship upper stage lost in second mishap in a row
SpaceX launched its huge Starship rocket on the program's eighth test flight Thursday, but a malfunction of some sort triggered multiple upper stage engine shutdowns and for the second flight in a row, the vehicle failed to reach its planned sub-orbital altitude and broke apart in a shower of debris.
VideoLaunch preview: SpaceX to launch Starship Flight 8 following Monday scrub
The eighth launch of SpaceX’s fully integrated Starship rocket will largely repeat the mission objectives of the previous flight, which saw the breakup of the Ship upper stage of the Turks and Caicos Islands. SpaceX is currently targeting Thursday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. CST (6:30 p.m. EST, 2330 UTC).
NASA announces new launch date for Crew-10, swap of SpaceX Dragon spacecraft following construction delays
The four-member crew will now fly onboard Dragon Endurance instead of SpaceX’s fifth Crew Dragon spacecraft as originally intended. Launch has moved up to Wednesday, March 12, “pending mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process.”
Former head of Boeing’s Starliner program returns to role
The change in leadership follows the decision made in 2024 by Mark Nappi, the former VP and program manager of CCP, to retire from Boeing in February.
Musk: President Trump calls for fast-track return to Earth of the former Starliner astronauts
SpaceX was already tasked with returning NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams as part of the Crew-9 mission. That departure was delayed by NASA due to unresolved issues with the fifth Crew Dragon capsule that will launch the Crew-10 flight.
VideoSpaceX successfully catches Super Heavy booster, loses Starship upper stage during Flight 7
SpaceX founder Elon Musk said that their initial assessment is that there was "an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity." The company is pursuing a launch in February, assuming the Federal Aviation Administration accepts their mishap investigation report.
VideoLaunch preview: SpaceX to launch its Starship rocket on a 7th suborbital test flight from Starbase
The mission will launch the first big block upgrade to the rocket since its first flight in 2023. Liftoff from SpaceX’s Starbase facilities in southern Texas is set for 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC).