SpaceX

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands in the launch position during sunset at Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Image: SpaceX Update July 19, 12:19 a.m. EDT: SpaceX adjusted the launch time.  SpaceX launched for a rare launch of its Starlink Version 2 Mini satellites into a polar orbit shortly after sunset on Friday night. The mission, dubbed Starlink 17-3, adds another 24 satellites into the company’s megaconstellation consisting of more than 7,900 satellites on orbit, according to statistics compiled by expert orbital tracker and astronomer, Jonathan McDowell. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:52 p.m. PDT (11:52 p.m. EDT / 0352 UTC).  The Falcon 9 first stage ...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying 24 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update July 16, 2:53 a.m. EDT: The Falcon 9 booster landed on the droneship. Amazon now has the third launch of its Project Kuiper broadband internet satellites in the books. This time around, they launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, dubbed KF-01 or Kuiper Falcon 1, lifted off at 2:30 a.m. EDT (0630 UTC). The rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and will begin deploying the 24 Project Kuiper satellites about 56 minutes after liftoff.  Heading into the launch opportunity, the 45th Weather Squadron on Tuesday forecast a...

The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station are pictured inside SpaceX’s Hangar X at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. Image: SpaceX The next four-person crew heading to the International Space Station is less than three weeks away from launch. On Thursday, NASA announced that it and SpaceX were targeting July 31 for the flight of SpaceX’s Crew-11 mission to the orbiting outpost. The penultimate Dragon mission for 2025 is set to liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 UTC). The mission is led by NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. She will be flying along with fellow NA...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts of from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Commercial GTO-1 mission, a flight for Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket early Sunday carrying the Israeli Dror 1 satellite. The mission was initially shrouded in secrecy as the satellite’s manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), shunned any  pre-launch publicity. The mission, referred to by SpaceX as ‘Commercial GTO-1,’ lifted off at 1:04 a.m. EDT (0504 UTC) on Sunday, July 13. Despite the secrecy pre-launch, the Falcon 9 payload fairing carried the logo of IAI, a state-owned company owned in Israel. The company finally confirmed the launch of its Dror 1 satellite in a news release, issued severa...

Acting NASA Associate Administrator Vanessa Wyche, left, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and acting NASA Administrator Janet Petro, right, react as they watch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft splash down with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, Nick Hague, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from the Space Operations Center at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy will now also oversee NASA as its newest interim administrator. The new leadership announcement came in a late-night post by President Donald Trump on his social media site, Truth Social. “Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country’s Transportation Affairs, including creating a state...