Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX to attempt first payload deployment, engine reuse during Starship Flight 7
The Starship upper stage on a test firing mount ahead of a static fire demonstration in December 20204. It’s the first Block 2 Starship that will be launched by SpaceX. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is launching into 2025 with what is poised to be a blistering pace of launch for its super heavy lift rocket, Starship.…
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Elon Musk: “We’re going straight to Mars. The Moon is a distraction.”
Although SpaceX founder Elon Musk is known for outspokenness and controversial comments on his social media site X, he has been relatively restrained when it comes to US space policy in recent years. For example, he has rarely criticized NASA or its overall goal to return humans to the Moon through the Artemis Program. Rather,…
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SpaceX notches first orbital launch of 2025 with mission for UAE-based Space42
A pair of onlookers at Florida’s Apollo Beach watch as SpaceX launches its first Falcon 9 rocket of 2025 in support of Space42’s Thuraya 4-NGS mission. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update 9:21 p.m. EST (0221 UTC): SpaceX confirms successful deployment of the Thuraya 4-NGS. SpaceX kicked off the year of orbital launches around the globe…
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SpaceX achieves record-breaking 2024, looks ahead to 2025
SpaceX is gearing up for another record-breaking year in 2025 after surpassing all previous record-breaking years in 2024. The company launched 138 times in 2024, 134 of which were with its Falcon family of rockets. While SpaceX suffered three mishaps during the third quarter of the year, the company was able to fix these issues…
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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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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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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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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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International Space Station finishes challenging year as plans are made for its retirement
The International Space Station continues to act as humanity’s outpost in low-Earth orbit, a role that began at the turn of this century. However, the ISS is showing its age and plans are being advanced for its retirement around 2030. Several events on the Station in 2024 underlined just how the ISS program was dealing…
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Four flights in the books and major infrastructure upgrades headline 2024 for the Starship program
SpaceX and the Starship program had an amazing and eventful year, with four test flights, a booster catch, the construction of Starfactory, finishing Mega Bay 2, which has started to speed up construction rates, and the introduction of Starship Block 2, an upgraded version of the orbital class starship. Masseys At the start of the…