SpaceX

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on May 31, 2025, on the Starlink 11-18 mission. Image: SpaceX.SpaceX closed out May with its 16th Falcon 9 launch of the month. The Saturday afternoon launch from the company’s West Coast launch pad carried 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites to a low Earth orbit. Liftoff of the Starlink 11-18 mission from a foggy Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 1:10 p.m. PDT (4:10 p.m. EDT, 2010 UTC). The mission employed first stage booster B1071, which was making its 25th flight. Previously this booster flew three rideshare missions, five National Reconnaissance Office missions, and 14 times with batches of Starlink satellites. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1071 landed on the drone ship, ‘O...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Starlink 12-19 mission on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update June 3, 3:12 p.m. EDT: The first stage booster successfully landed on the droneship. SpaceX managed to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites Tuesday morning following a scrub in the pre-dawn hours of Monday. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-19 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 12:43 a.m. EDT (0443 UTC) on Tuesday, June 3, as thunderstorms pushed offshore.  On Monday, the 45th Weather Squadron published a new launch weather forecast for this next launch opportunity. In it, meteorologists said SpaceX would be facing a 65 ...

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from New Zealand to begin the ‘Full Stream Ahead’ mission on June 2, 2025. Image: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab successfully launched its 65th Electron rocket to date on a mission in support of its customer, BlackSky, and the next launch for its Gen-3 satellite constellation. Teams launched the mission, dubbed ‘Full Stream Ahead,’ from Pad A at Rocket Lab’s launch complex in Mahia, New Zealand, at 11:57 a.m. NZT on June 3 (7:57 p.m. EDT, 2357 UTC on June 2). “With each successive launch BlackSky expands on-orbit capacity, introduces Gen-3 capabilities, and furthers our ability to meet the demands of the most time-dominant missions,” said Brian O’Toole, BlackSky CEO, in a post on X following the launch. “Our partnership with Rocket Lab has demonstrated excepti...

File: A Falcon 9 stands ready to launch the Starlink 12-5 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Image: Spaceflight Now. Update June 2, 12:14 p.m. EDT: SpaceX scrubbed the Monday morning launch attempt and is now targeting Tuesday, June 3. SpaceX decided to scrub its plans to launch 23 Starlink satellites in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning, though the company didn’t state a reason for the change in plans. The launch team is now targeting a liftoff of the Starlink 12-19 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, June 3 at 12:29 a.m. EDT (0429 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.  On Sunday, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 75 percent chance...

Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next administrator of NASA, appears before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington. Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls Update May 31, 11:40 p.m. EDT: Added comments from President Trump and Jared Isaacman. In an abrupt about-face on Saturday, President Donald Trump pulled the nomination of his pick for the next person to lead NASA. His nomination was days away from a vote in front of the full U.S. Senate. The withdrawal of Jared Isaacman, an entrepreneur and commercial astronaut, came less than a day after NASA published its proposed budget, which fleshes out the deep cuts forecast in the “skinny budget” previously released. “I am incredibly ...