Author: starpathwp-production
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Launch Roundup: New Glenn set for maiden flight, Falcon 9 missions end and start the year
Following an exceptionally busy December, this week started the new year with only four scheduled missions, with the possibility of two flights of heavy launch vehicles within the first ten days of January. On the same day as Starship’s seventh flight, Blue Origin’s New Glenn is expected to take its maiden voyage from Florida. This…
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Mitsubishi Electric Partners with Synspective to Develop SAR Constellation for National Security
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it acquired a stake in Synspective Inc., a Tokyo-based startup company that develops and operates small synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites and provides solutions based on satellite data, on December 16. The companies recently signed a strategic partnership memorandum to build a satellite constellation and sell satellite images for national…
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Maxar Secures $35 Million in New Contracts from Two Asia-Pacific Government Clients
Maxar Intelligence, a provider of secure, precise geospatial insights, announced that it has been awarded a total of $35 million in new tasking contracts from two government customers in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Both contracts are built around a Direct Access Program (DAP) offering and include several “firsts,” including the first purchase of direct access…
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SpaceX launches 4 Astranis satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) to begin the Astranis: From One to Many mission on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. Image: Pete Carstens/MaxQ Productions for Spaceflight Now Update 12:45 p.m. (0545 UTC): SpaceX deployed the four satellites. Following a rare pad abort on Dec. 21, SpaceX launched four satellites…
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ULA has big Vulcan launch plans for 2025
ULA Vulcan Cert-2 mission which saw an anomaly in the nozzle of a SRM during ascent. Image: Jared Locke / Space Explored Vulcan’s second flight was able to reach the designated orbit; however, an anomaly took place on one of the two solid rocket motors during ascent. This has been one of the main delays…
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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites during final orbital launch of 2024
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars into the clouds during the Starlink 12-6 mission, the final orbital launch around the world in 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Updated Dec. 31 at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 UTC): SpaceX confirms deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites. SpaceX ended its orbital launch year in the same way it…
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After 60 years of spaceflight patches, here are some of our favorites
The art of space mission patches is now more than six decades old, dating to the Vostok 6 mission in 1963 that carried Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into low-Earth orbit for nearly three days. The patch for the first female human spaceflight showcased a dove flying above the letters designating the Soviet Union, CCCP. That…
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SpaceX launches final 2024 mission from Vandenberg
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX Update 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC): SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 22 Starlink satellites. SpaceX completed its first of three planned Falcon 9 launches before the end of year. The trio began with a Starlink mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base…
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After a 24-second test of its engines, the New Glenn rocket is ready to fly
After a long day of stops and starts that stretched well into the evening, and on what appeared to be the company’s fifth attempt Friday, Blue Origin successfully ignited the seven main engines on its massive New Glenn rocket. The test firing came as fog built over the Florida coast, and it marks the final…