Tag: SpaceX
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Rocket Report: “No man’s land” in rocket wars; Isaacman lukewarm on SLS
Welcome to Edition 7.39 of the Rocket Report! Not getting your launch fix? Buckle up. We’re on the cusp of a boom in rocket launches as three new megaconstellations have either just begun or will soon begin deploying thousands of satellites to enable broadband connectivity from space. If the megaconstellations come to fruition, this will…
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Fram2 crew discuss first human mission to orbit Earth’s poles
The first four humans to orbit Earth’s poles are sharing their experiences from their historic mission. In a discussion with NSF, the crew of Fram2 provided insight into their groundbreaking mission and what it’s like to view Earth from polar orbit. On March 31, 2025, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from LC-39A at the…
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Here are the reasons SpaceX won nearly all recent military launch contracts
In the last week, the US Space Force awarded SpaceX a $5.9 billion deal to make Elon Musk’s space company the Pentagon’s leading launch provider, and then it assigned the vast majority of this year’s most lucrative launch contracts to SpaceX. On top of these actions, the Space Force reassigned the launch of a GPS…
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SpaceX launches 400th flight-proven Falcon booster with Saturday Starlink mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Starlink 12-17 mission. This was the 400th launch of a flight-proven booster. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now After being stymied by back-to-back scrubs on consecutive nights, SpaceX managed to launch the Starlink 12-17 mission from NASA’s Kennedy…
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Launch Roundup: Falcon 9 launches three missions; New Shepard completes NS-31
During this active week of launches, SpaceX launched Falcon 9 three times, and New Shepard carried the first all-woman crew above the Kármán line. On April 10, China successfully launched a Cheng Zhang 3B/E rocket into geostationary transfer orbit. SpaceX launched NROL-192 and Starlink Group 12-17 on April 12, followed by an expected launch of…
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SpaceX to launch second accelerated GPS 3 satellite mission in late May
Seen here prior to being sealed in its shipping container at Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colorado facility, SV08 will join the U.S. Space Force’s operational GPS constellation in orbit. Image: Lockheed Martin. Following the successful accelerated launch of a Global Positioning System on a Falcon 9 rocket in mid-December, the U.S. Space Force, Lockheed Martin and…
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A military satellite waiting to launch with ULA will now fly with SpaceX
For the second time in six months, SpaceX will deploy a US military satellite that was sitting in storage, waiting for a slot on United Launch Alliance’s launch schedule. Space Systems Command, which oversees the military’s launch program, announced Monday that it is reassigning the launch of a Global Positioning System satellite from ULA’s Vulcan…
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SpaceX launched 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX SpaceX launched another batch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East occurred at 4:06 p.m. PDT (7:06 p.m. EDT, 2306 UTC) on Monday, April 7. SpaceX…
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SpaceX launches 28 Starlink satellites on Saturday night Falcon 9 flight
SpaceX launches a batch of 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on April 5, 2025. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched a batch of 28 Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit on Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket on the…
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With new contracts, SpaceX will become the US military’s top launch provider
The US Space Force announced Friday it selected SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin for $13.7 billion in contracts to deliver the Pentagon’s most critical military satellites to orbit into the early 2030s. These missions will launch the government’s heaviest national security satellites, like the National Reconnaissance Office’s large, bus-sized spy platforms, and deploy…