Tag: Falcon 9
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Launch Preview: Falcon 9, Electron, and Vega C launch missions alongside Starship Flight 12
Six launches are scheduled worldwide during the next week, with the 12th flight of SpaceX’s Starship serving as the headline. Outside of Starship, SpaceX is scheduled to launch three Starlink missions on Falcon 9 from the company’s launch facilities in California and Florida. Internationally, Avio launched the joint European and Chinese SMILE mission atop a…
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The US space enterprise is desperately waiting for Starship—will it finally deliver?
These days, one would be forgiven for forgetting that SpaceX is, at its core, a rocket company. Consider the company’s mega deals over the last year. SpaceX paid $17 billion—more than it has spent developing every one of its rockets—to EchoStar for wireless spectrum to boost its Starlink network. It revealed plans to launch 1…
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NASA, SpaceX launch Dragon mission with 6,500 pounds of science and supplies to the space station
A SpaceX Cargo Dragon spacecraft, C209, is seen atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: SpaceX Update May 15, 6:33 p.m. EDT (2233 UTC): SpaceX confirms successful separation of the Dragon spacecraft. The third time was the charm as SpaceX successfully launched its Cargo…
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SpaceX CRS-34 launches to ISS on third attempt
Just over two weeks after Progress MS-34 docked to the Station, the ISS is set to receive a new visiting vehicle loaded with cargo. A SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launched the CRS-34 cargo mission to ISS on Friday, May 15 at 6:05 PM EDT (22:05 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape…
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For a second time, poor weather scrubs Cargo Dragon mission launch to the space station
NASA, SpaceX scrubbed the launch of the CRS-34 mission to the International Space Station on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, due to poor weather. Image: SpaceX Update May 13, 7:18 p.m. EDT (2318 UTC): NASA, SpaceX scrub launch on Wednesday, target NET Friday. In a bit of deja vu, SpaceX and NASA were once again getting…
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Launch Preview: SpaceX and Chinese missions fill busy launch manifest
The week of May 11 brings nine launches across the United States and China, spanning government and commercial operators on both sides of the Pacific. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 accounts for four missions: a Cargo Dragon resupply flight to the International Space Station, a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload from Vandenberg, a Starlink mission, and a…
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SpaceX is starting to move on from the world’s most successful rocket
It is far too soon to mention retirement, but astute observers of the space industry have noticed SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket is not launching as often as it used to. The decline is modest so far, and it does not signal any problem at SpaceX or with the Falcon 9. Rather, it is a…
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Launch Preview: three launches — a calm before the storm?
Two Falcon 9 launches and a Chang Zheng 7 make up the launch roster for the week commencing Monday, May 4, 2026. SpaceX will use its launches to place a further 48 Starlink satellites into Group 17 of the huge constellation of over 7,000 satellites. China’s single flight is a cargo supply mission to the…
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Three Launches This Week Signal Quieter Period Before Major Missions
What’s driving this week’s lighter launch schedule? This week’s global launch manifest features just three missions—two SpaceX Falcon 9 flights and one Chinese Chang Zheng 7 mission—marking a notable deceleration from April’s 28 launches across all providers. The reduced cadence reflects seasonal planning patterns and payload delivery schedules rather than any operational constraints, with multiple…
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SpaceX launches CAS500-2 and 45 other payloads to Sun-synchronous orbit
SpaceX successfully launched its third rideshare mission of 2026 aboard Falcon 9. The mission carried the Compact Advanced Satellite 500-2 (CAS500-2) and 45 other payloads as part of SpaceX’s rideshare program. Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, and recovered the veteran first-stage booster, B1071,…