Tag: Starlink
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Launch Roundup: Russia returns to the Moon with Luna 25 mission, Virgin Galactic completes first fully private space tourism flight
It’s a busy week in spaceflight, especially for Russia. The week of Aug. 7 following through to Aug. 13 has seen Russia launch two missions to space, including the nation’s fourth-generation radio navigation satellite, GLONASS-K2, and Roscosmos’s first mission to the Moon in over four decades, dubbed Luna 25. SpaceX launched a batch of its…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab conducts Electron reuse attempt, SpaceX flies two Starlink v2 missions
The week of July 16 through July 23 saw four more launches take place around the world, potentially increasing the orbital launch count to 108 so far in 2023. This included Rocket Lab’s launch of the “Baby Come Back” mission (which featured a first stage recovery attempt), two more SpaceX Starlink v2 missions, and the…
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Rocket Report: Rocket Lab’s next step in reuse, Blue Origin engine explodes
Welcome to Edition 6.02 of the Rocket Report! I’m on my third week at Ars, and the space beat is as busy as ever. Going forward, Eric and I will alternate work on the Rocket Report every other week. SpaceX broke its own booster reuse record this week, and a Chinese company made history with…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX finishes Starlink v1 flights – China launches methane powered ZQ-2
This week, LandSpace reached orbit on its second test flight of the ZhuQue-2 rocket; SpaceX launched the final v1.0/v1.5 Starlink satellites on Starlink Group 5-15; and India launched the Chandrayaan-3 lunar exploration mission atop their Launch Vehicle Mark 3 rocket. These launches will mark the 102nd through 104th orbital launches of 2023. If the launch…
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SpaceX is stretching the lifetime of its reusable Falcon 9 boosters
The late-night liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket with another batch of Starlink Internet satellites on Sunday set a new record for the most flights by a SpaceX launch vehicle, with a first-stage booster flying for a 16th time. SpaceX now aims to fly its reusable Falcon 9 boosters as many as 20 times, double…
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SpaceX is stretching the lifetime of its reusable Falcon 9 boosters
The late-night liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket with another batch of Starlink Internet satellites on Sunday set a new record for the most flights by a SpaceX launch vehicle, with a first-stage booster flying for a 16th time. SpaceX now aims to fly its reusable Falcon 9 boosters as many as 20 times, double…
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West Coast launch puts 48 more Starlink internet satellites in orbit
SpaceX lofted another batch of Starlink internet satellites into orbit on Friday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. A Falcon 9, carrying 48 satellites inside its payload fairing, lifted off at 12:29:50 p.m. PDT (3:29:50 p.m. EDT; 1929:50 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 4-East. A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Vandenberg Space Force Base…
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SpaceX record-breaking first half of 2023 following Starlink launch
SpaceX’s last launch of the first half of 2023 occurred Friday, June 23, carrying 56 Starlink v1.5 satellites. Liftoff was in the second launch window of the day at 11:35 AM EDT (15:35 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission, Starlink Group 5-12, marked the…
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Launch Roundup: ULA launches Delta IV Heavy; SpaceX launches three missions
In what will be a quiet week for orbital launches, Rocket Lab launched its first suborbital Electron mission; SpaceX launched the Satria satellite to geostationary transfer orbit; China launched the Shiyan 25 payload to a Sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit; United Launch Alliance (ULA) will launch the penultimate Delta IV Heavy on the NROL-68 mission; and SpaceX…
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Starlink 5-11 launches from Florida as astronomy impacts in focus
SpaceX conducted its third orbital launch this month, as well as the 37th Falcon 9 and the company’s 39th overall orbital launch for 2023, with Falcon 9 B1073-9 launching on Monday, June 12 at 3:10 AM EDT (07:10 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The flight took a…