Launch Pad 39A – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX launch sends upgraded solar arrays to International Space Station

June 5, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 28th resupply mission to the International Space Station lifted off Monday from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying new solar arrays, fresh food, and experiments to sustain research and upgrade the power system on the orbiting laboratory.

Third set of upgraded solar arrays ready for ride to International Space Station

June 2, 2023 Stephen Clark

Two more roll-out solar arrays will ride a SpaceX cargo ship to the International Space Station this weekend, continuing a years-long mid-life station upgrade as NASA plans procurement of a final set of new solar wings to fully reinforce the lab’s power supply.

Two Americans, two Saudis launch on commercial astronaut mission

May 21, 2023 Stephen Clark

Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, with more time in space than any other American, rocketed back into orbit for the fourth time Sunday, riding a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Florida with a fare-paying investor and private pilot, and the first two Saudi Arabian astronauts to fly to the International Space Station.

Axiom’s second crew mission has narrow window for launch

May 20, 2023 Stephen Clark

The second fully commercial astronaut flight to the International Space Station will have just two opportunities to launch Sunday and Monday, or else wait until after an upcoming SpaceX resupply mission next month to deliver a new set of high-priority solar arrays to the complex.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy hits bullseye with ascent to near-geosynchronous orbit

May 1, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday night and deployed a sophisticated internet satellite for Viasat into a circular orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator, delivering for a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink broadband network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center

April 30, 2023 Stephen Clark

On the mission’s third launch attempt, SpaceX sent a Falcon Heavy rocket aloft at 8:26 p.m. EDT Sunday (0026 UTC Monday) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The nearly five-hour mission to a near-geosynchronous orbit carried the first satellite for the ViaSat 3 space-based internet network, along with two smaller rideshare payloads.

SpaceX clears Falcon Heavy for liftoff after launch pad lightning strike

April 28, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says engineers completed checks of the Falcon Heavy rocket, its satellite payloads, and ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center after a lightning strike on the launch pad’s tower Thursday night, part of a wave of severe weather that forced officials to delay the launch attempt.

Live coverage: Stormy weather scrubs Falcon Heavy launch

April 27, 2023 Stephen Clark

Stormy weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced SpaceX to scrub the liftoff of a Falcon Heavy rocket Thursday night carrying the ViaSat 3 Americas broadband satellite to a near-geostationary orbit.

Falcon Heavy rocket rolls back to launch pad after engine swap

April 25, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX rolled a Falcon Heavy rocket back to its launch pad in Florida Tuesday night for liftoff Thursday with a high-power Viasat broadband satellite, following an eight-day delay for a launch vehicle engine swap.

Falcon Heavy’s first national security launch slips to October

May 23, 2021 Stephen Clark

The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket has been delayed from July to October to await the readiness of its U.S. military payload, and the following Falcon Heavy flight has been rescheduled from late this year to some time in 2022, military officials said.