Tag: SpaceX
-
Crew Dragon Endurance returns to Earth on Crew-5 mission
The Crew-5 astronauts returned to Earth on the evening of Saturday, March 11, after spending the last five months aboard the International Space Station. Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada of NASA, Koichi Wakata of JAXA, and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos undocked their Crew Dragon, C210 Endurance, early on Saturday at 2:20 AM EST (07:20 UTC).…
-
SpaceX launches OneWeb 17 mission and returns booster to LZ-1
SpaceX launched 40 high-speed internet communication satellites to a polar low Earth orbit on the OneWeb 17 mission on Thursday. Launching from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, the Falcon 9 lifted off at 2:13 PM EST (19:13 UTC) and marked SpaceX’s 16th orbital launch of 2023–a…
-
Starship debut leading the rocket industry toward full reusability
Starship’s first orbital flight is currently planned for March. This is the first time the anticipated flight date of the vehicle is in the current month, and with that, a future of fully reusable rockets is getting closer. But not only is Starship aiming for reusability, but the rest of the industry is also moving…
-
SpaceX launches v1.5 satellites from Vandenberg following debut of Starlink v2
On Monday, SpaceX conducted the first of two Starlink launches this week from each coast of the United States. The first was the launch of the Starlink Group 6-1 mission at 6:13 PM EST (23:13 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Starlink Group 6-1…
-
Study highlights concerns over satellite interference with Hubble observations
A raw Hubble image shows a satellite streak. (NASA / ESA / STScI / Kruk et al. / Nature) An analysis of more than 100,000 images from the Hubble Space Telescope, conducted with the aid of artificial intelligence and hundreds of human volunteers, confirms that satellites including SpaceX’s Starlink spacecraft are increasingly interfering with astronomical…
-
Delving Deeper: Super Heavy thrust and counting down to flight
The orbital test flight of Starship is just around the corner. Starship has conducted a 31-engine static fire, a single-engine spin prime test, and multiple Booster quick disconnect (QD) tests in the last few weeks. However, the question remains if the ground service equipment (GSE) can handle almost double the thrust of the static fire,…
-
SpaceX launches Inmarsat I-6 F2 on 12th mission of 2023
SpaceX has launched the Inmarsat I-6 F2 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit atop a Falcon 9. The vehicle lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at the opening of the 89-minute long launch window on Feb. 17 at 10:59 PM EST (03:59 UTC on Feb.…
-
Rapid Starlink launch cadence continues with Group 2-5 mission
The second of two Starlink launches this week, Starlink Group 2-5, launched at 11:12 AM PST (19:12 UTC) on Friday, Feb. 17 from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The first mission of the week, Starlink Group 5-4, lifted off at 12:10 AM EST (05:10 UTC) on Sunday,…
-
SpaceX test-fires 31 engines on Starship’s gigantic Super Heavy booster
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Feb. 10 with details. The Super Heavy booster fired 31 of its engines at 3:14 p.m. CST (4:14 p.m. EST; 2114 GMT) Thursday. Credit: SpaceX In a significant milestone preparing for liftoff of the world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX test-fired 31 of the booster’s 33 methane-fueled engines Thursday in South Texas as the…
-
SpaceX ready for 33-engine test of Starship’s Super Heavy booster
The Super Heavy booster for SpaceX’s new Starship mega-rocket is powered by 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines, seen here in a file photo from last year. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is gearing up for the first full-up test-firing Thursday of all 33 engines on the booster for the company’s Starship mega-rocket in Texas, a critical milestone on…