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Tag: 2025
SpaceX Launches Another Batch of Starlink Satellites from Vandenberg on New Falcon 9
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched a brand new Falcon 9 booster on a mission from California to deploy another batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink internet service. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, occurred for 12:48 a.m. PST (3:48 a.m. EST / 0848 UTC).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX launches a new Falcon 9 rocket from California (Launch ocurrs at the 29:03 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
SpaceX’s Next-Gen Starship Booster Damaged During Testing Friday Morning
Ars Technica reports, “During the pre-dawn hours in South Texas on Friday morning, SpaceX’s next-generation Starship first stage suffered some sort of major damage during pre-launch testing. The company had only rolled the massive rocket out of the factory a day earlier, noting the beginning of its test campaign said on the social media site X: “The first operations will test the booster’s redesigned propellant systems and its structural strength.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
AIAA Survey: Forecast of Emerging Aerospace Technologies
FROM THE INSTITUTE
AIAA is working with BryceTech to produce the AIAA 2026 Forecast of Emerging Aerospace Technologies, a strategic assessment of the innovations that will define the aerospace landscape over the next two decades. This forecast will explore technologies driving future competitiveness, national capability, and societal impact. As a member of the AIAA community, your expert perspective will provide valuable insights into these technology trends. Please take a moment to fill out the emerging technology trends survey by Friday, 21 November.
Eastern Range Hosts 100th Orbital Launch of the Year
Aviation Week reports, “Less than a decade ago, the country’s primary spaceport was working on modernizing processes and equipment to support 48 rocket launches a year—more than double the annual flight rate at the time. This week, the Eastern Range hosts its 100th orbital launch of the year, with another 20-30 remaining on the 2025 flight manifest.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
ULA Atlas 5 Rocket Launches ViaSat-3
Spaceflight Now reports the mission was the second of three planned spacecraft that Viasat plans to operate in geostationary orbit. United Launch Alliance launched from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station “at 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC), the opening of a 44-minute-long window. The rocket headed due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
ULA Atlas 5 launches ViaSat-3 F2 communications satellite. (Launch occurs at the 59:66 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
2025 AIAA Best Professional and Student Papers
FROM THE INSTITUTE
AIAA technical committees (TCs) and integration and outreach committees (IOCs) have selected the best professional and student technical papers presented at recent AIAA forums. With a standard award criteria and selection process from the respective committees, the following technical papers were selected as the “best,” and thereby were presented with a Certificate of Merit. The papers can be found online at the AIAA Aerospace Research Central (arc.aiaa.org), marked as “Best Paper.”
Full Story (Aerospace America)
Rocket Lab Launches Earth-observing Radar Satellite to Orbit in 6th Mission for Japanese Company iQPS
SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab launched its sixth mission for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS this afternoon (Nov. 5) from its seaside pad in New Zealand. An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-14 satellite, nicknamed Yachihoko-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site today at 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT; 8:51 a.m. on Nov. 6. local New Zealand time).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Rocket Lab launches Japanese Earth-observation satellite. (Launch occurs at the 00:10 mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
Russian Cosmonauts Perform Spacewalk Outside ISS to Install Experiments
SPACE reports Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky completed a 6 hour and 54-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station “on Tuesday (Oct. 28) to continue and expand on the work they began during an extravehicular activity (EVA) on Oct. 16.”
Full Story (SPACE)
SpaceX Performs 550th Falcon 9 Launch
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its 550th Falcon 9 mission since the rocket’s debut in 2010. The launch from California added 28 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s Starlink constellation.” The Starlink 11-5 mission was the 95th flight in 2025 supporting the low Earth orbit internet constellation. “Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT / 1416 UTC).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX Falcon 9 launches on the 11-5 mission (Launch occurs at 30:28 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube