FROM THE INSTITUTE
Former NASA astronaut Rick Hauck, who flew on three Space Shuttle missions, including the Return to Flight in 1988, died on 8 November. He was 84 years old.
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)
SpaceX launches a new Falcon 9 rocket from California (Launch ocurrs at the 29:03 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
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)
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)
Defense Daily reports, “Rocket Lab [RKLB] on Tuesday announced the successful launch of a suborbital mission using its HASTE launch vehicle with missile defense technology payloads operating for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Defense innovation Unit (DIU). The company said the launch took place at its Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Va., on the morning of Nov. 18.”
Full Story (Defense Daily)
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change. The first satellite, known as Sentinel-6 and named in honor of NASA climate researcher Michael Freilich, was launched in November 2020. The follow-on spacecraft, Sentinel-6B, was launched from California atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 12:21 a.m. EST.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
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)
ULA Atlas 5 launches ViaSat-3 F2 communications satellite. (Launch occurs at the 59:66 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
Ars Technica reports, “Another Falcon 9 rocket fired off its launch pad here on Monday night, taking with it another 29 Starlink Internet satellites to orbit. This was the 94th orbital launch from Florida’s Space Coast so far in 2025, breaking the previous record for the most satellite launches in a calendar year from the world’s busiest spaceport. Monday night’s launch came two days after a Chinese Long March 11 rocket lifted off from an oceangoing platform on the opposite side of the world, marking humanity’s 255th mission to reach orbit this year, a new annual record for global launch activity.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)