Tag: Starlink
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Launch Roundup: Polaris Dawn, ISS crewed launch headline busy week
This week’s manifest features four Falcon 9 launches, including the highly anticipated Polaris Dawn crewed mission, a mission carrying AST SpaceMobile’s first five cellphone-compatible broadband satellites, and the delayed launch of two more satellites for Europe’s mid-Earth orbit Galileo constellation. Additionally, Roscosmos has launched the Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).…
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SpaceX launches 7,000th Starlink satellite to date on Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 8-11 mission on Sept. 5, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 1:12 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites. SpaceX managed to find good enough weather to launch its 85th Falcon 9 rocket…
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Launch Roundup: Vega retired after final launch; Polaris Dawn lift off
This week, rockets will launch from all over the globe. China’s CASC sent a Chang Zheng 4B on its 50th successful mission to start the week. The final launch of Arianespace’s Vega rocket went off without a hitch. Polaris Dawn launched four private astronauts to low-Earth orbit, during which the world’s first private EVA out…
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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 return to flight mission
A Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the skies above Florida’s Space Coast during the Starlink 8-10 mission. This was SpaceX’s return to flight mission, following a failed booster landing on Wednesday. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update 4:04 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed its first stage booster on its droneship, ‘Just Read the…
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SpaceX set a launch turnaround record with back-to-back, coast-to-coast Falcon 9 launches
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX Update 5:06 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed B1081 on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ Following its second return to flight mission in as many months with a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX proceeded to set a…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster collapses in a fireball on the droneship, ending a streak of 267 successful landings
SpaceX lost its flight leader booster, tail number B1062, during its landing attempt on the droneship, ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas.’ This was the booster’s 23rd flight. Image: SpaceX Update 5:20 a.m. EDT: SpaceX is scrubbing the Starlink 9-5 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base to allow more time to review the data from the B1062…
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FAA grounds SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket following landing mishap
A streak shot of the Starlink 8-6 mission showing the Falcon 9 rocket flying away from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Aug. 28, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration for the second time in less than two months,…
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Polaris Dawn on hold; SpaceX booster fails on landing
Another busy week of spaceflight activities contained a landing failure of a Falcon 9 booster for the first time in over three years. Looking forward, Falcon 9 could launch up to three times this week, including three Starlink flights. Polaris Dawn’s launch date has been delayed due to an unacceptable weather forecast at the time…
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Polaris Dawn astronauts, set to perform first commercial spacewalk, arrive in Florida ahead of launch
The crew of the Polaris Dawn mission pose in front of the Alpha jets they flew in on to the Kennedy Space Center. Left to right: Mission Specialist Anna Menon, Pilot Scott “Kidd” Potent, Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now The four-member crew of what is set to be an…
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Launch Roundup: Polaris Dawn aims high, Starlink launches continue
A total of five flights were on the worldwide launch manifest for this week. Most notable was to be the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 with the Polaris Dawn mission. A modified Crew Dragon capsule will carry four astronauts into the highest orbit a crewed mission has flown in since the Gemini missions. In…