Tag: Vandenberg Space Force Base
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SpaceX launches Transporter 14 rideshare mission
SpaceX’s next mission as part of its Transporter small payload rideshare program, Transporter 14, launched from Space Launch Complex 4E (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday, June 23, at 2:25 PM PDT (21:25 UTC), following a 24 hour weather delay. The launch window extended until 3:15 PM PDT (22:15 UTC). After…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab launches 65th Electron, SpaceX launches four missions
SpaceX continued to dominate the launch manifest with four missions this week, including SXM-10, and three Starlink launches from various locations around the globe. Additionally, Rocket Lab conducted its 65th Electron flight, transporting the BlackSky Gen-3 satellite to orbit on the “Full Stream Ahead” mission. Meanwhile, China launched a Chang Zheng 6A to a polar…
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The company with the world’s largest aircraft now has a hypersonic rocket plane
Stratolaunch has finally found a use for the world’s largest airplane. Twice in the last five months, the company launched a hypersonic vehicle over the Pacific Ocean, accelerated it to more than five times the speed of sound, and autonomously landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Stratolaunch used the same vehicle for both…
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The company with the world’s largest aircraft now has a hypersonic rocket plane
Stratolaunch has finally found a use for the world’s largest airplane. Twice in the last five months, the company launched a hypersonic vehicle over the Pacific Ocean, accelerated it to more than five times the speed of sound, and autonomously landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Stratolaunch used the same vehicle for both…
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Firefly’s rocket suffers one of the strangest launch failures we’ve ever seen
Firefly Aerospace launched its two-stage Alpha rocket from California early Tuesday, but something went wrong about two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, rendering the rocket unable to deploy an experimental satellite into orbit for Lockheed Martin. The Alpha rocket took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base about 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles at 6:37 am…
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Firefly Alpha launches FLTA006 Message In A Booster mission but fails to reach orbit
Firefly Aerospace launched its Alpha rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, but the mission failed to reach orbit. The Alpha FLTA006 mission, named “Message In A Booster,” launched on Tuesday, April 29, at 6:37 AM PDT (13:37 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 2 West (SLC-2W) during a 52-minute launch window. The attempt was…
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The X-37B spaceplane lands after helping pave the way for “maneuver warfare”
The US military’s robotic mini-space shuttle dropped out of orbit and glided to a runway in California late Thursday, ending a 434-day mission that pioneered new ways of maneuvering in space. The X-37B spaceplane touched down on Runway 12 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 11:22 pm local time Thursday (2:22 am EST Friday),…
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Launch Roundup: Falcon 9 launches customer payloads, China fly resupply mission to Tiangong
While SpaceX flew Starship on its sixth integrated test flight, the company also flew three satellites to geostationary transfer orbit this week. Koreasat 6A, Optus-X, and GSAT-20 were launched. Meanwhile, four Starlink missions also flew this week. Finally, Starship Flight 6 was moved to Tuesday, Nov. 19 and was launched successfully on that day. Starlink…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches cargo resupply mission to ISS, Roscosmos and Rocket Lab also launch
This week got off to a flying start when new science experiments and cargo were launched to the International Space Station, and Roscosmos launched ionospheric research satellites. Rocket Lab has also launched its Electron rocket on the company’s quickest turnaround mission to date this week. Following a scrub of Sunday’s Starlink mission just moments before…
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Launch Roundup: Europa Clipper launches, Starlink launches return
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) recent decision to clear SpaceX’s Falcon 9 for a return to all flights paved the way for a busy week of launches. Before Falcon 9 returned to flying regular Starlink missions, though, a Falcon Heavy launch with NASA’s Europa Clipper mission started the week off. Following Europa Clipper’s launch, SpaceX…