Commercial Space – Page 13

SpaceX’s next Starship test flight delayed to Tuesday

March 26, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its next Starship test rocket Friday afternoon, and the the next opportunity for the atmospheric test flight is now expected Tuesday. SpaceX plans to launch and land the rocket at company’s South Texas development complex after losing three previous prototypes in explosions.

Soyuz launch adds 36 satellites to OneWeb’s global internet network

March 25, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Soyuz rocket took off from a cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East and deployed 36 Florida-built OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Thursday. Another batch of OneWeb satellites will launch next month, continuing the build-out of a planned fleet of 648 spacecraft to provide global broadband services.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches with 36 satellites for OneWeb’s constellation

March 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

OneWeb’s next 36 internet satellites stacked on top of a Soyuz rocket lifted at 10:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0247 GMT Thursday) from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.

SpaceX launches 25th mission for Starlink internet network

March 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

Another 60 Starlink internet satellites rumbled into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the 25th mission to launch spacecraft for SpaceX’s broadband network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

For the fourth time this month, SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast with another 60 Starlink internet satellites. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred at 4:28 a.m. EDT (0828 GMT) Wednesday. The Falcon 9’s booster landed on an offshore drone ship.

Starlink and OneWeb satellites ready for launch on opposite sides of the world

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and OneWeb — space industry rivals and owners of two of the largest fleets of commercial satellites — are set to add more spacecraft to their internet networks Wednesday with launches from Cape Canaveral and Russia.

Testbed for NASA moon mission rides to orbit with six other satellites

March 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab launched seven satellites Monday from New Zealand on a rideshare mission serving the U.S. and Australian militaries and space services startups. A spacecraft developed in-house by Rocket Lab was also aboard to prove out technologies for a NASA moon mission launching later this year.

Privately-funded mission takes off to begin space debris cleanup trials

March 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

A commercial mission developed by the Japanese company Astroscale rocketed into space on a Russian Soyuz launcher Monday with 37 other payloads, ready to kick off an orbital “dance” with two small spacecraft demonstrating how satellite sweepers might one day drag junk out of orbit.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches small satellites from New Zealand

March 22, 2021 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s second mission of 2021 lifted off at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT) Monday from New Zealand carrying six small satellites for customers in Australia and the United States, along with a test platform for a NASA small satellite mission to the moon launching later this year.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches with 38 satellites

March 19, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Russian Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:07 a.m. EDT (0607 GMT) Monday with 38 small and medium-size satellites for customers in 18 countries.