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A artist’s rendering of the SpainSat New Generation 1 satellite. Graphic: Airbus Defense and Space SpaceX launched a secure communications satellite on behalf of Hisdesat, a Spanish communications company, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Wednesday night. The SpainSat New Generation 1 (SNG 1) satellite is supported by the European Space Agency (ESA) and manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A happened at 8:34 p.m. EST (0134 UTC), the opening of a two-hour window.  The 45th Weather Squadron forecast pretty idiic conditions for liftoff on Wednesday night, forecasting a 95 percent chance of acceptable weather with just thick clouds presenting a possible obstruction. “Overall, launch weather conditions look favorable as ridging aloft an...

NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Image: NASA. In a late afternoon post to X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk stirred up some confusion and consternation among the space community. Without any indication ahead of time, Musk suggested that the Crew Dragon capsule, named ‘Freedom,’ may make an early departure from the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams onboard.  The pair have been on orbit since June 2024 when they arrived on the Boeing Starliner spacecraft as part of the Crew Flight Test mission. Ultimately, NASA made the determination that they would come home on Dragon because of ...