ELaNa – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX smashes record with launch of 143 small satellites

January 24, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday from Cape Canaveral with 143 small satellites, a record number of spacecraft on a single mission, giving a boost to startup space companies and stressing the U.S. military’s tracking network charged with sorting out the locations of all objects in orbit.

Falcon 9 launch timeline on the Transporter-1 mission

January 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, heading due south over the Atlantic Ocean on a trajectory hugging the east coast of Florida to deliver 143 small satellites into polar orbit.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches rideshare mission on Falcon 9 rocket

January 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched the first in a series of small satellite rideshare missions Sunday from Cape Canaveral, providing transportation for 143 U.S. and international spacecraft to low Earth orbit, a record number of satellites on a single flight. Liftoff occurred at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) Sunday after bad weather forced SpaceX to scrub a launch attempt Saturday morning.

University-built CubeSat launched with swarm of auroral science nodes

June 13, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab back in action with twilight launch in New Zealand

June 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket took off at 1:12 a.m. EDT (0512 GMT) Saturday carrying five payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of New South Wales at Canberra in Australia. The launch was the first for Rocket Lab since January due to delays related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Citing coronavirus concerns, Rocket Lab pauses launch operations

March 26, 2020 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab says it has paused launch operations after the government of New Zealand this week ordered most businesses closed and urged people to stay at home in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology

February 13, 2019 Stephen Clark

One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on low-cost micro-probes to explore other planets.

NASA, Rocket Lab partner on successful satellite launch from New Zealand

December 17, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s commercial Electron booster fired into orbit from New Zealand on Sunday, carrying a flock of 13 CubeSats on the company’s first mission chartered by NASA, and closing out a landmark year for the new smallsat launch provider as Rocket Lab aims to grow its flight rate to at least one per month in 2019.

Mission timeline for Rocket Lab’s launch of NASA’s ELaNa-19 CubeSats

December 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s light-class Electron launcher is set to take off on its fourth flight from New Zealand, aiming to deliver 13 CubeSats to orbit on the company’s first mission for NASA.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket launches on NASA mission

December 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, a commercially-developed light-class booster, lifted off at 1:33 a.m. EST (0633 GMT) Sunday, carrying 13 CubeSats into orbit under contract to NASA.