Tag: SpaceX
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Crew-3: Dragon Endurance return four astronauts to Earth
Crew Dragon Endurance has concluded the Crew-3 mission, returning astronauts Raja Chari, Kayla Barron, Tom Marshburn, and Matthias Maurer back to Earth after nearly six months in orbit. Endurance undocked from the forward-facing port of the station’s Harmony Module at 05:20 UTC (01:20AM EDT) on Thursday, before a splashdown on Friday at 04:43 UTC (00:43AM…
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Starlink Group 4-16 launches, breaks SpaceX turnaround records
SpaceX made its seventeenth launch of the year on Friday to put another batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket carried out the Starlink Group 4-16 mission, lifting off at 5:27:10 pm EDT (21:27 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Friday’s…
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Crew-4 mission to ISS begins with pre-dawn liftoff
The fourth SpaceX Commercial Crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS) launched on Wednesday, April 27 at 03:52 Eastern Daylight Time (07:52 UTC), using Falcon 9 B1067-4 for the first flight of Crew Dragon C212, also known as Freedom. Crew-4, the seventh flight of the Crew Dragon vehicle with people on board, flew…
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Historic Axiom-1 mission returned from ISS as Crew-4 prepares for launch
The first all-private astronaut mission to visit the International Space Station (ISS), Axiom-1, has successfully returned to Earth. Crew Dragon Endeavour undocked from the station’s Node 2 zenith (or space-facing) docking port at 01:10 UTC Monday (9:10 PM EDT Sunday), with reentry and landing off the coast of Florida at 17:06 UTC Monday (1:06 PM…
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After blazing a trail in orbit, data engineer Chris Sembroski’s adventures just keep coming
Chris Sembroski was one of four citizen astronauts on the Inspiration4 mission. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) KIRKLAND, Wash. — It’s been seven months since Chris Sembroski splashed down at the end of the world’s first all-civilian orbital space mission, but his drive to seek out new frontiers is still going strong. The 42-year-old data…
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SpaceX testing and building boosters at Starbase as Florida Starship factory begins construction
Booster 7 has been returned to the High Bay after undergoing two ambient tests and a cryogenic test at the orbital launch site. Teams have, in the meantime, continued progress on the construction of Booster 8, while welcoming new Raptor 2 engines to Starbase in support of the eventual orbital test flight for Starship and…
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SpaceX launch cadence moves forward with 53 more Starlink satellites to orbit
SpaceX has launched its 15th Falcon 9 of the year, lofting another batch of 53 Starlink satellites on the Starlink Group 4-14 mission. Liftoff occurred on April 21 at 1:51 PM EDT (17:51 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida. As is traditional these days, the…
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Astrobotic into testing of Griffin lunar lander for NASA’s Artemis program
Astrobotic, a Pittsburg-based lunar lander company, has fully assembled the test model for its largest lunar lander in development, the Griffin. A medium-class lander, Griffin is designed to deliver up to 625 kilograms to the lunar surface and survive for 14 days while providing communications and power to the payload if required. The fully loaded…
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NASA awards millions to SpaceX and Amazon’s Project Kuiper for satellite communications
An artist’s conception shows a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite in orbit. (NASA Illustration) Six satellite ventures — including SpaceX’s Starlink network and Amazon’s Project Kuiper — are due to receive a total of $278.5 million in NASA funding to demonstrate next-generation space communication services in Earth orbit. The Communications Services Project is intended…
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Falcon 9 launches NROL-85 mission for National Reconnaissance Office
SpaceX launched a pair of ocean surveillance satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office on Sunday for the NROL-85 mission. The satellite lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base at 6:13 AM PDT (13:13 UTC). A flight-proven Falcon 9 was used to deliver the satellites into orbit, while the first stage returned to Vandenberg for a…