Tag: Falcon 9
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SiriusXM Puts SXM-11, Its Most Powerful Broadcast Satellite, Into Commercial Service
SiriusXM confirmed on September 15 that its SXM-11 geostationary communications satellite has completed in-orbit testing and entered full commercial service. The spacecraft, described by the company as the most powerful broadcast satellite in its fleet, is designed to improve signal reception, expand coverage in Alaska and strengthen the delivery of satellite audio and information services…
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SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites as Falcon 9 Booster Completes 17th Flight
SpaceX launched 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 19, adding another batch of broadband spacecraft to its low Earth orbit constellation. The Falcon 9 mission also marked the 17th flight of first-stage booster B1093, which landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket lifted…
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NASA Selects SpaceX Falcon 9 Rideshare to Launch StarBurst Gamma-Ray Mission in 2028
NASA selected SpaceX on September 18 to launch StarBurst, a small astrophysics satellite designed to detect short gamma-ray bursts associated with neutron star mergers. The spacecraft will fly no earlier than 2028 as a rideshare payload on a Falcon 9 Bandwagon mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing Team Wins First Neil Armstrong Space Prize for Pioneering Reusable Booster Landings
Purdue University presented its first Neil Armstrong Space Prize to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Booster Landing Team on September 15, 2026, at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Announced in April, the award recognizes the team’s development of vertical booster landings, which made repeated first-stage reuse a routine part of orbital launches. Five SpaceX employees accepted…
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SpaceX Sets USSF-259 Launch, Second Classified Space Force Mission in Six Days
SpaceX is preparing to launch the classified USSF-259 mission for the U.S. Space Force from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 16, marking the company’s second national security flight from the base in six days. A Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Space Launch Complex 4 East during a four-hour window…
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SpaceX Launches Final O3b mPOWER Satellites on 700th Falcon Mission (Video)
SpaceX launched three Boeing-built O3b mPOWER communications satellites for SES on September 13, completing the Luxembourg-based operator’s 13-satellite medium Earth orbit constellation while marking the 700th mission by SpaceX’s Falcon rocket family. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:49 p.m. EDT, or…
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SpaceX Launches Classified USSF-153 Mission for U.S. Space Force
SpaceX launched the classified USSF-153 mission for the U.S. Space Force aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 8:42 a.m. Pacific time on September 10. The mission carried an undisclosed number of national-security spacecraft toward an unannounced orbit. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East and…
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Besxar Secures 12 Falcon 9 Flights to Develop Orbital Semiconductor Factory
Besxar, a space manufacturing startup founded by former OpenAI employee Ashley Pilipiszyn, has reached an agreement with SpaceX to prototype an orbital semiconductor factory across 12 Falcon 9 flights. The company aims to manufacture critical precursor materials for advanced semiconductors in the vacuum of space and return them to Earth, targeting a market currently served…
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SpaceX launches 27 Starlink satellites on 103rd Falcon 9 mission of 2026 (Video)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 27 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sept. 6, 2026. It was the 80th Starlink satellite mission of the 2026. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX launched 27 Starlink broadband satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on September 6, 2026,…
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SpaceX Clears Florida Launch Capacity for Starship by Moving Falcon 9 Starlink Missions West
SpaceX has consolidated its remaining Falcon 9 Starlink launches at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, ending the constellation’s Falcon 9 campaign from Florida as it prepares the Space Coast for Starship-Super Heavy operations. The operational shift removes a large volume of routine Starlink missions from SpaceX’s Florida schedule, freeing launch infrastructure, personnel and range…