Tag: Deploys

SpaceX Adds 24 Satellites to Starlink Constellation After West Coast Launch

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. As SPACE reports, “The launch, on a Falcon 9 rocket, began at 12:11 p.m. EST (1711 GMT or 9:11 a.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites from California (Launch at the 10 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube

NASA Deploys PC-12 for Advanced Air Mobility Trials

Aviation International News reports that NASA is “deploying a Pilatus PC-12 for test flights in the Cleveland area as part of its work to pave the way for the autonomous operations envisaged for the advanced air mobility sector.” The flights began Thursday and will run through June 25, with the agency’s pilots “following roadways over Cleveland, Lodi, Mansfield, and Medina in Ohio to test communications technology expected to be used by eVTOLs and other new air vehicles.” NASA’s PC-12 “has been fitted with monitors to measure cell tower signal strength at various altitudes in urban, suburban, and rural areas. It will fly no lower than 1,000 feet in populated areas and no lower than 500 feet outside towns.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

JUICE Deploys Radar Antenna

Space News reports that the European Space Agency said that, “after weeks of effort to loosen a stuck pin,” the JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) successfully deployed its 16-meter-long antenna. Engineers tried to loosen the pin via shaking the craft using thrusters orienting it with sunlight to warm the antenna, but it didn’t deploy “until controllers fired a non-explosive actuator in the jammed bracket.” The antenna is part of the Radar for Icy Moons Exploration sensor, which is designed to probe up to nine kilometers beneath Europa’s, Ganymede’s, and Callisto’s surfaces.
Full Story (Space News)

Northrop Grumman-Built Fire Scout Deployed Aboard USS Jackson

ExecutiveGov reports that the US Navy “has deployed a Northrop Grumman-built Fire Scout autonomous helicopter aboard an Independence-class littoral combat ship to support maritime intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance and targeting missions in the Indo-Pacific area.” The MQ-8C Fire Scout “on USS Jackson marks the unmanned aircraft system’s first operational deployment to the region.”
Full Story (ExecutiveGov)