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Preparations underway for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch

April 12, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy mission, set for April 18 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will launch a powerhouse bus-sized broadband satellite for Viasat into a high-altitude circular geostationary orbit, a demanding flight profile that will require disposal of all three of the rocket’s reusable boosters.

SpaceX launches another bundle of Starlink internet satellites

March 29, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX delivered 56 more Starlink internet satellites into the company’s global internet constellation after liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, bringing the total number of Starlinks launched to 4,217 spacecraft.

Indian launch gives OneWeb enough satellites for global internet service

March 26, 2023 Stephen Clark

The successful launch of 36 more OneWeb satellites aboard India’s most powerful rocket Saturday brought the total number of OneWeb spacecraft in orbit to 618, enough for the London-based company to start global broadband service later this year.

Live coverage: India’s LVM3 rocket lifts off with 36 more OneWeb satellites

March 25, 2023 Stephen Clark

An Indian LVM3 rocket lifted off at 11:30 p.m. EDT Saturday (0330 UTC Sunday) with 36 more OneWeb internet satellites. Once the new 36 satellites complete orbit-raising and commissioning, OneWeb will have 618 active satellites in its fleet, enough for global broadband service.

Falcon 9 deploys 56 Starlink satellites on SpaceX’s 20th launch of the year

March 24, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX continued launching satellites for the Starlink internet network Friday, sending a Falcon 9 rocket aloft from Cape Canaveral with 56 more older-generation broadband spacecraft as ground teams troubleshoot problems with a batch of upgraded Starlinks launched last month.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 56 more Starlink internet satellites

March 24, 2023 Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launched another Falcon 9 rocket Friday, this time to deliver 56 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1543 UTC). The first stage booster landed on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX pausing launches of new-generation Starlink satellites

March 23, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next two missions will revert to launching older versions of the company’s Starlink internet satellites, instead of new second-generation Starlink platforms as originally planned, while ground teams work out unspecified problems with the first batch of upgraded Starlinks launched in February.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites from California

March 17, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 12:26 p.m. PDT (3:26 p.m. EDT; 1926 GMT) Friday with another batch of 52 Starlink internet satellites. The mission is the first of two SpaceX launches scheduled Friday, with another Falcon 9 poised for liftoff from Florida a little more than four hours later.

Tyvak smallsat launched by SpaceX to validate miniature space debris telescope

May 18, 2021 Stephen Clark

Tyvak, a manufacturer of small satellites, disclosed new details Monday about an experimental spacecraft launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Saturday, revealing plans to validate compact optical telescopes that could offer a new way to monitor space traffic and orbital debris.

SpaceX ramps up launch rate with fifth Falcon 9 mission in three weeks

May 16, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s fifth Falcon 9 launch in a little more than three weeks delivered 52 more Starlink internet satellites and two small hitchhiker payloads to orbit after a booming blastoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday evening.