Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites on 50th Falcon 9 rocket of 2025
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Starlink 12-10 mission on Monday, April 28, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 11:05 p.m. EDT: SpaceX landed the first stage booster on the droneship. SpaceX completed its second Falcon 9 rocket launch in less…
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Launch Roundup: Starlink missions fill launch manifest, Biomass and Alpha launch
JThis week’s schedule included up to six Starlink launches from Florida and California, but poor weather meant only four flew. Arianespace launched the Biomass satellite aboard a Vega C from Kourou, and Firefly Aerospace attempted to launch its first Alpha rocket of the year. SpaceX has already launched 50 times this year and celebrated its…
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SpaceX launches 27 Starlink launch from California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts of from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base to begin the Starlink 11-9 mission. Image: SpaceX Update 8:32 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed successful deployment of the Starlink satellites. SpaceX launched the Starlink 11-9 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base with 27 Starlink V2 Mini…
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Reusable rockets are here, so why is NASA paying more to launch stuff to space?
In an era of reusable rockets and near-daily access to space, NASA is still paying more than it did 30 years ago to launch missions into orbit, according to a study soon to be published in the scientific journal Acta Astronautica. Launch is becoming more routine. Every few days, SpaceX is sending another batch of…
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Reusable rockets are here, so why is NASA paying more to launch stuff to space?
In an era of reusable rockets and near-daily access to space, NASA is still paying more than it did 30 years ago to launch missions into orbit, according to a study soon to be published in the scientific journal Acta Astronautica. Launch is becoming more routine. Every few days, SpaceX is sending another batch of…
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Rocket Report: The pitfalls of rideshare; China launches next Tiangong crew
Welcome to Edition 7.41 of the Rocket Report! NASA and its contractors at Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue building a new mobile launch tower for the Space Launch System Block 1B rocket, a taller, upgraded version of the SLS rocket being used for the agency’s initial Artemis lunar missions. Workers stacked another segment of…
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Rocket Report: The pitfalls of rideshare; China launches next Tiangong crew
Welcome to Edition 7.41 of the Rocket Report! NASA and its contractors at Kennedy Space Center in Florida continue building a new mobile launch tower for the Space Launch System Block 1B rocket, a taller, upgraded version of the SLS rocket being used for the agency’s initial Artemis lunar missions. Workers stacked another segment of…
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A Chinese-born crypto tycoon—of all people—changed the way I think of space
For a quarter-century, dating back to my time as a budding space enthusiast, I’ve watched with a keen eye each time people have ventured into space. That’s 162 human spaceflight missions since the beginning of 2000, ranging from Space Shuttle flights to Russian Soyuz missions, Chinese astronauts’ first forays into orbit, and commercial expeditions on…
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A Chinese-born crypto tycoon—of all people—changed the way I think of space
For a quarter-century, dating back to my time as a budding space enthusiast, I’ve watched with a keen eye each time people have ventured into space. That’s 162 human spaceflight missions since the beginning of 2000, ranging from Space Shuttle flights to Russian Soyuz missions, Chinese astronauts’ first forays into orbit, and commercial expeditions on…
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SpaceX’s rideshare Bandwagon-3 mission marks the 300th orbital flight from Cape Canaveral’s pad 40
SpaceX launches their Falcon 9 rocket on April 21, 2025 with a rideshare mission towards mid-inclination orbits from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral, FL. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update 9:38 p.m. EDT: The Falcon 9 first stage booster successfully landed at Landing Zone 2. SpaceX completed its third Falcon 9 rocket launch in less than 48…