Tag: commercial-space
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Two payloads orbited by SpaceX’s launch of NRO mission
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on the NROL-108 mission Dec. 19 from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX Tracking information released by the U.S. military indicates two government payloads rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Dec. 19 on the NROL-108 mission, a dedicated launch for the National…
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Lockheed Martin to buy rocket engine-builder Aerojet Rocketdyne
An Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-X prototype engine, which includes 3D-printed core components, undergoes hotfire testing at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne Lockheed Martin, the largest U.S. defense contractor, announced late Sunday that it has reached a deal valued at $4.4 billion to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, a supplier of engines to…
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SpaceX closes out record-setting year of launches from Florida’s Space Coast
A Falcon 9 rocket takes off from pad 39A with the NROL-108 mission. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX hurled a secret cargo into space for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency Saturday, the 30th rocket launch to fly into Earth orbit from pads on Florida’s Space Coast in 2020. The Falcon 9 flight broke an annual record…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches NRO payload, lands booster at Cape Canaveral
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch the NROL-108 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”SpaceX webcast”] [tabby title=”SpaceX mission audio”] [tabbyending] SpaceX’s live video webcast begins…
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SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch to assess second stage issue
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 2 a.m. EST (0700 GMT) with delay to Saturday. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday after an aborted countdown. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch attempt Thursday to evaluate a “slightly high” pressure reading in the rocket’s upper stage liquid oxygen…
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Astra’s smallsat launcher reaches space on second test flight
Astra’s Rocket 3.2 takes off from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Credit: Astra / John Kraus On its second test flight Tuesday, Astra’s privately-developed small satellite launcher ran out of fuel seconds before reaching the velocity needed to enter orbit but exceeded the company’s expectations with an otherwise-successful climb into space from Kodiak Island, Alaska. Astra officials…
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NRO using SpaceX’s commercial launch service for spy satellite payload
SpaceX raised a Falcon 9 rocket vertical on pad 39A Wednesday for the company’s final mission of the year. Credit: Spaceflight Now A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off Thursday from Florida’s Space Coast with a secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office, which broke with standard practice to procure the launch…
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Rocket Lab closes out year with launch of Synspective’s first radar satellite
A Rocket Lab Electron launcher takes off from New Zealand on Tuesday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s seventh and final launch of the year delivered a small radar observation satellite into orbit for Synspective, a Japanese startup planning a fleet of 30 or more Earth-imaging spacecraft providing day-and-night imagery of cities around the world. The…
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Full video of Starship’s seven-minute high-altitude test flight
This video replay shot from South Padre Island shows SpaceX’s Starship SN8 prototype rocket taking off from Boca Chica, Texas, climbing high into the atmosphere, then gliding back to a fiery crash landing after an otherwise successful test flight. The nearly seven-minute experimental flight Wednesday began with liftoff at 4:45 p.m. CST (5:45 p.m. EST;…
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Spectators watch the final fiery moments of the Starship test flight
Spectators on South Padre Island watch the Starship prototype end its test flight in a fiery crash landing on Dec. 9, 2020. Videos like this are made possible by the support of Spaceflight Now members. Support our coverage by becoming a member today. Video: Isis Valencia/Spaceflight Now.