Launch – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

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.

Viasat seeks replacement for Ariane 6 for launch of third ViaSat 3 satellite

April 30, 2023 Stephen Clark

On the eve of launching its first ViaSat 3 internet satellite on a SpaceX rocket, Viasat says it has moved the launch of an identical spacecraft off of Europe’s long-delayed Ariane 6 rocket, and is considering bids from other rocket companies.

SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket with two O3b internet satellites

April 28, 2023 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with a pair of O3b internet satellites for SES Friday evening from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but a last-minute abort for a Falcon Heavy mission later in the night prevented the company from pulling off a launch doubleheader.

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.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Starlink 3-5 mission from California

April 26, 2023 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched the Starlink 3-5 mission from California Thursday morning, following a last-minute abort Wednesday due to concerns about landing of the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:40 a.m. PDT (9:40 a.m. EDT; 1340 UTC) with 46 Starlink internet satellites.

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.

India’s PSLV launches with two Singaporean satellites

April 22, 2023 Stephen Clark

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off Saturday and flew to an altitude of more than 360 miles to deploy two Singaporean satellites, one for all-weather radar imaging surveillance and another for technology demonstrations.

SpaceX launches largest rocket ever built, but test flight ends in explosion

April 20, 2023 Stephen Clark

After years of anticipation, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its full-scale Starship rocket Thursday from South Texas, but the mission ended four minutes later as the vehicle veered out of control and self-destructed over the Gulf of Mexico following multiple engine failures.