Tag: launch

AIAA Statement on ULA Vulcan Centaur Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 8, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the ULA team on today’s Vulcan Centaur Launch! It is exciting to witness this new space launch capability complete its first certification mission. We are pleased to see the positive results of ULA’s partnership with Blue Origin to develop and utilize two BE-4 engines on the vehicle.

We are thrilled to follow Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander’s journey to the moon. This mission is an important part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative to deliver science and technology to the lunar service. We are encouraged to see commercial space companies advancing technology in the cislunar ecosystem. Expanding the boundaries leads to success.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals making this mission a success. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member ULA for making important contributions to shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, andInstagram.

Video

ULA’s Vulcan rocket, carrying lunar lander, launches for the first time
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

SpaceX Launches First Satellites Designed to Connect Directly to Smartphones

Space News reports that SpaceX “launched its first batch of Starlink satellites designed to connect directly to unmodified smartphones Jan. 2 after getting a temporary experimental license to start testing the capability in the United States.” Six of the 21 Starlink satellites “that launched on a Falcon 9 rocket at 10:44 p.m. Eastern from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carry a payload that the company said could provide connectivity for most 4G LTE devices when in range.” SpaceX plans to “start enabling texting from space this year in partnership with cellular operators, with voice and data connectivity coming in 2025, although the company still needs regulatory permission to provide the services commercially.” Initial direct-to-smartphone tests “would use cellular spectrum from SpaceX’s US mobile partner T-Mobile.” SpaceX has also “partnered with mobile operators in Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland.”
Full Story (Space News)

Video

SpaceX 1st Starlink to Cell Sat Launch, 10:44 p.m. ET, from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)

Blue Origin Delays New Shepard Launch

SPACE reports that Blue Origin’s first mission “in more than 15 months was officially delayed on Monday (Dec. 18) after a last-minute scrub.” Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital vehicle “was originally supposed to lift off as early as 9:30 a.m. EST (1430 GMT or 8:30 a.m. EST) on Monday.” Following a one-hour delay “due to cold temperatures at the company’s West Texas site, however, Blue Origin announced a scrub on X, formerly known as Twitter.” Officials said, “We’re scrubbing #NS24 today due to a ground system issue the team is troubleshooting. We’ll provide a new launch target for this week soon.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Stands Down Both Falcon Heavy, Falcon 9 Launches

The Orlando Sentinel reports that SpaceX “is standing down from attempting to launch its powerhouse Falcon Heavy for now, citing the need for ‘systems checkouts’ while weather would have been an issue the next couple of days.” It has already “delayed a Falcon 9 launch as well.” After delaying a Sunday attempt “to launch Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A because of weather and then scrubbing a Monday night attempt less than an hour before its planned liftoff because of a ‘ground side issue,’ SpaceX had announced it would try again Wednesday.” But late Tuesday, “it called off those plans.” USSF-52 is a mission “to send up the Space Force’s secretive mini shuttle, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle built by Boeing, on what would be the spacecraft’s seventh trip to orbit.” The classified missions “have sent it on longer and longer duration flights each time, having spent nearly 909 days in space the last time around.” Weather was also the reason “it called off both a late Tuesday attempt and a planned Wednesday attempt to launch a Falcon 9 from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on another Starlink mission.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket Launch of X-37B Space Plane Delayed

SPACE reported that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket “is poised to launch the X-37B space plane for the US Space Force on Monday evening (Dec. 11) after a one-day delay due to weather, and you can likely watch the action live.” Liftoff of the Falcon Heavy “is scheduled to occur from Launch Complex-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, during a 10-minute window that opens at 8:14 p.m. EST (0114 GMT Dec. 12).” The upcoming launch “will be the seventh launch to date for the reusable X-37B space plane its first-ever ride on a Falcon Heavy, which could have consequences for its coming orbital mission.” Five of the six X-37B launches “to date have employed United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets, with one other using a SpaceX Falcon 9.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Makes Space Coast’s 66th Launch of the Year

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports, “SpaceX chalked up another Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to mark the Space Coast’s 66th launch of the year.” A Falcon 9 carrying “23 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 11:20 p.m. Monday.” The booster launched “for the 17th time, the third time SpaceX has flown one of its boosters 17 times, although one has flown 18 missions.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Starship’s Second Launch Spread Less Debris Than its First

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bloomberg reports that SpaceX’s second test flight “of its massive deep-space Starship rocket spread significantly less debris around the surrounding area than the vehicle’s first flight in April, though the crowds who flocked to the launch site had their own impact on the nearby terrain.” The US Fish and Wildlife Service “conducted an assessment of the Boca Chica, Texas, area after Starship’s launch, which took place from SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas on Nov. 18.” The flight “achieved significantly more milestones than the first launch, including keeping the area much cleaner.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)

AIAA Statement on SpaceX Starship Test Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 18, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher:

“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on today’s test flight of Starship from Starbase, Texas. It is exciting to witness a new launch vehicle achieving so many of its test objectives toward reaching orbit. The art and science of engineering requires testing and taking risks to understand the limits of systems and where designs should be improved. This test flight is a valuable learning experience, especially around the performance of its boosters. We look forward to seeing the team’s progress toward enhancing this new space launch capability and flying again.

With Starship, SpaceX is taking a step toward humans living and working off our planet. Flight tests, taking risks, and pushing new technologies that are still in development will lead to this future.

We are excited to see commercial space launch companies advancing technology in the cislunar ecosystem and pushing on to Mars. Expanding the boundaries leads to success.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”

AIAA Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

US Spaceplane to Return to Orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy

FlightGlobal reports that the secretive “spaceplane” operated by the US Space Force (USSF) “will return to orbit for its seventh long-endurance mission, this time aboard the world’s largest commercial rocket.” The USSF “announced the Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) will launch on 7 December from Cape Canaveral, Florida for the ultra-long endurance spacecraft’s seventh mission.” The announcement “comes almost exactly one year after the X-37B landed from its sixth flight mission in November 2022.” That flight, which “launched in May 2020, lasted 908 days and carried a solar energy experiment for the US Navy and a satellite for the US Air Force Academy.” The goal “of the latest orbital flight, dubbed X-37B Mission 7 or OTV-7, is to experiment with new space technologies aimed at furthering the ‘safe, stable, and secure operations in space for all users,’ the USSF says.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Mission

Florida Today reports that with SpaceX’s newly “installed crew access arm for use by future astronauts stationed alongside on a support tower, a Falcon 9 rocket blazed into the post-midnight darkness Wednesday carrying another payload of 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.” The launch “lit up the Space Coast sky at 12:05 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” Of note, SpaceX’s Starlink 6-27 mission “marked the 61st orbital launch from the Space Force installation and nearby Kennedy Space Center this year, extending the ongoing annual record.”
Full Story (Florida Today)

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Starlink 6-27
(NASASpaceflight; YouTube)