US Army Space and Missile Defense Command

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.

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.

Rocket Lab deploys experimental U.S. military smallsats on first night launch

May 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

On its first nighttime launch, Rocket Lab’s Electron booster climbed into orbit Sunday from New Zealand with a trio of small U.S. military payloads, demonstrating the privately-developed rocket’s ability to help meet the Air Force’s growing demand for smallsat launches.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches three U.S. military smallsats

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Three experimental satellites sponsored by the U.S. military lifted off on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s commercial spaceport in New Zealand on Sunday at 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT).

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket soars into space, lands back at Cape Canaveral

August 17, 2017 Stephen Clark

Look back on Monday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in this gallery of photos captured by remote cameras at the launch pad, plus views of the first stage returning to Cape Canaveral for a propulsive landing.

Station crew captures Dragon supply ship, gets early start on unpacking

August 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

Two days after departing from a launch pad on Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday with more than 6,400 pounds of experiments and supplies after concluding an automated laser-guided approach.

SpaceX launches cargo capsule full of science experiments

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into space Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a column of gleaming exhaust, shooting a commercial resupply vessel toward the International Space Station with research projects looking into cosmic rays, the origin of Parkinson’s disease, the utility of small satellites and an experimental radiation-tolerant supercomputer.

4K video replay liftoff Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff on station cargo flight

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Check out a 4K video clip of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch viewed from Spaceflight Now’s office at the Kennedy Space Center.

Watch a liftoff-to-landing replay of Monday’s SpaceX launch

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, then the launcher’s first stage returned to landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after sending a Dragon supply ship toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Video: Falcon 9 launch viewed from KSC press site

August 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch as seen from the Kennedy Space Center press site, a viewpoint around three miles from pad 39A.