SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch five of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch with the first five commercial satellites for AST SpaceMobile’s new cellular constellation. The satellites, called ‘BlueBird,’ are a precursor to the next generation of its satellites. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 4:52 a.m. EDT (0852 UTC), which is the opening of a four-hour window. However, weather may prove to be a spoiler for the launch opportunity. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about one hour prior to liftoff. Weather heading into the launch opportunity is far from ideal. The 45th Weather Squadron forec...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Polaris Dawn mission. Image: SpaceX Update 3:05 a.m. EDT: SpaceX pushed back to the second launch opportunity due to poor weather at the launch pad. SpaceX is preparing to try once again to launch the Polaris Dawn commercial astronaut mission, even as weather continues to prove challenging in and around Florida. The company said it hopes to launch the four astronauts aboard its Crew Dragon spacecraft, named ‘Resilience,’ no earlier than Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. EDT (0923 UTC). However, weather conditions at liftoff are only 40 percent favorable for launch, according to SpaceX. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about four hours prior to liftoff. Polaris Dawn, the first of three planned missions for the Polaris Program, will fe...

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing test flight with an on-target and apparently problem-free New Mexico touchdown. Despite NASA’s concerns about earlier thruster problems and multiple helium leaks in the ship’s propulsion pressurization system, the Starliner had no trouble undocking and moving away from the station at 6:04 p.m. EDT and executing a critical 59-second deorbit braking maneuver at 11:17 p.m. to drop out of orbit. Slamming into the discernible at...

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands at the ready to support the Starlink 10-4 mission, which will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on July 28, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX is targeting Wednesday morning for the 85th launch Falcon 9 rocket so far in 2024. The mission, dubbed Starlink 8-11, will add another 21 Starlink satellites to the company’s megaconstellation. If successful, this launch will mark the 7,000th Starlink satellite launched to date, according to statistics compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and expert orbital tracker. Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is set for 8:59 a.m. EDT (1259 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff. According to th...

The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses for a group photo at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Image: SpaceX. NASA has bumped two female astronauts, including the commander, from the next SpaceX crew rotation flight to the international space station, freeing up two seats to give the agency’s Starliner astronauts a ride home next February. Crew 9 commander Zena Cardman, a space rookie, and veteran Stephanie Wilson will remain behind when the Crew Dragon ferry ship takes off from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sept. 24 carrying crewmate Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. Also on board: clothing, supplies and SpaceX pressure suits for Starliner commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Will...