Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX’s next Starship launch—and first catch—could happen this weekend
We may not have to wait as long as we thought for the next test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket. The world’s most powerful launcher could fly again as soon as Sunday, SpaceX says, assuming the Federal Aviation Administration grants approval. The last public statement released from the FAA suggested the agency didn’t expect to…
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Starship readying for Flight 5 amid future preparations
SpaceX is setting the stage for acquiring final approval to launch the fifth flight of Starship, a mission that includes another major milestone toward its rapid reusability aspirations. With a preliminary Oct. 13 launch date, SpaceX is taking all the required steps to prepare for the final approval from the FAA. Meanwhile, Starbase continues to…
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Launch Roundup: Starship flies, booster caught
SpaceX flew the Starship-Super Heavy on Sunday, Oct. 13. This was the fifth test flight of the full Starship-Super Heavy stack and the first attempt at catching the booster. On Friday, Oct. 11, SpaceX Falcon 9 missions were released from the hold imposed on them while an investigation into the anomaly with the second stage…
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SpaceX launches Europe’s Hera asteroid mission ahead of Hurricane Milton
Two years ago, a NASA spacecraft smashed into a small asteroid millions of miles from Earth to test a technique that could one day prove useful to deflect an object off a collision course with Earth. The European Space Agency launched a follow-up mission Monday to go back to the crash site and see the…
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ESA’s Hera spacecraft launches on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as Hurricane Milton takes aim at Florida
An artist’s rendering of the Hera spacecraft along with CubeSats Milani and Juventas around the asteroid, Dimorphous. Graphic: ESA The European Space Agency and SpaceX managed to find good enough weather right in the nick of time to launch a mission to a binary asteroid Monday morning. The Hera mission is a follow-on operation, which…
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ESA’s Hera mission launched to asteroid binary as Falcon 9 returns to flight
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission, which is traveling to asteroid Didymos and its moon Dimorphos as a follow-up to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, beat weather odds and successfully launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This flight, the 95th Falcon flight of 2024, was the first Falcon 9 mission to…
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Engineers investigate another malfunction on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
SpaceX is investigating a problem with the Falcon 9 rocket’s upper stage that caused it to reenter the atmosphere and fall into the sea outside of its intended disposal area after a Saturday launch with a two-man crew heading to the International Space Station. The upper stage malfunction apparently occurred after the Falcon 9 successfully deployed SpaceX’s Crew…
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Launch Roundup: Vulcan takes second flight; Hera mission set to study asteroid
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) has launched its Vulcan Centaur rocket for the second time. The successful, if dramatic, mission saw Vulcan carry an inert payload to orbit alongside some experiments and demonstrations and should complete its certification process with the U.S. Space Force (USSF). SpaceX has delayed missions this week following an off-nominal deorbit…
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SpaceX launches mission to bring Starliner astronauts back to Earth
NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov lifted off Saturday from Florida’s Space Coast aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, heading for a five-month expedition on the International Space Station. The two-man crew launched on top of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket at 1:17 pm EDT (17:17 UTC), taking advantage of a break in the…
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SpaceX, NASA launches Crew-9 with two people
SpaceX and NASA have launched Crew-9 for its six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, originally set to launch with four people, launched with only two. The empty seats will be used by Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams is to return home in February…