Tag: launch

Japanese Successfully Launches Lunar Landing, Space Telescope Mission

The Washington Post reports Japan launched a “lunar mission on Thursday, overcoming multiple failures and delays to become the fifth country to head to the moon just weeks after India in a global race to better understand the Earth’s closest neighbor.” The Japanese H2-A rocket is scheduled “to enter the moon’s orbit in three to four months and land early next year,” and carries “two space missions: a new X-ray telescope and a lightweight high-precision moon lander that will serve as the basis for future moon landing technology.” The reputation of “Japan’s space program was on the line with the launch on Thursday,” and Japan’s performance is described as “important for its national security strategy in space, developed with an eye on advancements by China and Russia.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

 

Video

Japan Lunar Lander SLIM + XRISM Launch, September 6, 2023
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)

China’s Ceres-1 Rocket Achieves Orbit with First Launch from Mobile Sea Platform

Space News  reports that China’s Galactic Energy “conducted its first sea launch early Wednesday, also marking a ninth successive successful launch for the commercial company.” The Ceres-1 solid rocket “lifted off from a transport erector launcher on a mobile sea platform off the coast of Haiyang, Shandong province, at 5:34 a.m. Eastern (0934 UTC) Sept. 5.” Aboard were four satellites “for Guodian Gaoke, a commercial firm constructing its Tianqi low-Earth orbit narrow-band Internet of Things constellation.” The launch “carried Tianqi satellites 21-24, with the spacecraft targeting an 800-kilometer-altitude orbit.” The satellites are “equipped with chemical propulsion systems allowing orbital maneuvers. Guodian Gaoke has 21 satellites in orbit and aims to complete the 38-satellite constellation in 2024.”
Full Story (Space News – Subscription Publication)

 

Video

First sea launch of China’s commercial CERES-1 rocket, August 2, 2023
(CGTN; YouTube)

SpaceX Launches 13 Satellites for US Space Development Agency

Space News reported SpaceX on Saturday launched a Falcon 9 rocket “at 7:25 a.m. Pacific from Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, carrying 13 U.S. military satellites.” According to Space News, “The mission to low Earth orbit was the second launch of the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 mesh network of military communications and missile tracking satellites.” Spaceflight Now reported the launch was the third attempt “in as many days for the mission,” as “a problem with the Falcon 9’s engine 4 scrubbed the launch on Aug. 31 and on Sept. 1 the countdown was halted with 20 minutes left on the clock by a balky valve in a ground system.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

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Space Development Agency’s Second Tranche 0 Mission, September 2, 2023
(SpaceX; YouTube)

SpaceX Launches Starlink Satellites

UPI reports that SpaceX “launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of 22 Starlink satellites into space early Friday from Florida’s famed Cape Canaveral, after having scrubbed the launch of a separate mission Thursday night.” The rocket “launched at 12:01 a.m. EDT Friday from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” Up to four backup launch opportunities “were available to SpaceX to launch the nearly two dozen satellites into low-Earth orbit where they will join Starlink’s constellation of orbitals that provide high-speed, low-latency Internet around the globe.” The launch occurred shortly “after SpaceX scrubbed a Flacon Heavy mission that was to liftoff late Thursday.” No reason for “aborting the mission was immediately made public.” The first-stage booster “used in the early Friday launch flew its 15th mission.” After deploying its payload “into space, the launch vehicle returned to Earth where it landed upon the autonomous A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.” The launch “was SpaceX’s 50th of the year and 249th overall.”
Full Story (UPI)

 

Video

Starlink Mission, 26 August 2023
(SpaceX; YouTube)

AIAA Statement on the NASA SpaceX Crew-7 Launch

August 26, 2023 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:

“On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate the entire NASA SpaceX team on its successful Crew-7 launch. We applaud this mission to the International Space Station (ISS) through NASA’s Commercial Crew program, showing how NASA and private industry are working together to extend the human neighborhood into low Earth orbit and beyond.

This mission also demonstrates the value of international partnership in space exploration, delivering the four-member international crew to the ISS. The scientific research they will conduct onboard the ISS will help prepare us for human exploration to the moon and cislunar space, and on to Mars. The addition of Crew-7 continues maximizing the use of the ISS, where astronauts have been living and working continuously in space for more than 22 years. We are encouraged to see these explorers and innovators work to improve life on Earth and accelerate our off-world future.

We recognize the aerospace industry professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute NASA, SpaceX, and Crew-7 for helping shape the future of aerospace.”

Media Contact: Rebecca 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, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

SpaceX, NASA Mission Delayed

CNN reports that a SpaceX and NASA mission that “was set to launch four astronauts – representing four nations and space agencies across the globe – to the International Space Station was abruptly called off Thursday evening.” The delay was announced late Thursday night for reasons that were not immediately clear. The astronauts’ SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft “had been slated to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 3:50 a.m. ET Friday.” In a social media post, SpaceX “said only that it was delaying the liftoff time to Saturday, August 26 at 3:27 a.m.” because it “provides teams additional time to complete and discuss analysis.” During a livestream, NASA spokesperson Rob Navias said “mission mangers met and elected to postpone the launch of the Crew-7 crew for 24 hours to provide just a bit more time to close out some open paperwork.” The latest forecasts from the US Space Force “projects a 95% chance that the weather will be favorable for the Saturday liftoff.”
Full Story (CNN)

Crew-7 Prepares for Launch

Aviation Week reports that preparations “continue for the planned Aug. 25 launch of NASA’s Crew-7’s three astronauts and a cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS) to begin a multi-mission exchange of the seven current crewmembers.” Early on Tuesday, the Crew-7 members “wrapped up a countdown dress rehearsal.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

SpaceX’s Crew-7 Mission to Launch Next Week

SPACE reports that four astronauts from four countries “will fly on SpaceX Dragon capsule to the International Space Station for a six-month mission.” They will “launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on SpaceX’s Crew-7 flight no earlier than Aug. 25.” NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli said, “It’s one of the things I think we’re most proud of, is what we represent by being an all-international group.” Moghbeli will “become the second Iranian-American astronaut to reach space” on the mission.
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Successfully Launches More Starlink Satellites

UPI reports that SpaceX successfully “launched a Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of nearly two dozen Starlink satellites into space from Florida’s famed Cape Canaveral late Wednesday.” The rocket “launched at 11:36 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.” The mission “deployed 22 additional Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit where they will join a constellation of thousands that provide high-speed, low latency Internet worldwide.” The first-stage booster “returned to Earth where it landed upon the autonomous barge A Shortfall of Gravitas that had awaited its return in the Atlantic Ocean.” The launch – which “was SpaceX’s 56th of the year and 255th overall – came hours before SpaceX was to launch a second Falcon 9 rocket with a payload of 21 Starlink orbitals from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base at 1:42 am PT, or 4:42 a.m. EDT.”
Full Story (UPI)



Video

Starlink Mission, August 16, 2023
(SpaceX; YouTube)

Lockheed Martin, NASA Working Around the Clock to Complete Artemis II’s Orion Capsule in Time for 2024 Launch

NASA Space Flight reports that the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II mission “is nearing final assembly and testing at prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) production facility.” After a final standalone test “on the Orion crew module (CM), it is expected to be mated to the service module (SM) in mid-September.” If there are no problems “in the remaining months of testing, Lockheed Martin believes they can complete their work by the end of April next year.” NASA is “planning Artemis II as a week-and-a-half long, lunar-flyby mission; it will be the first crewed test flight for Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) and the four-person astronaut crew recently visited KSC together for the first time to see their spacecraft.” NASA is still “retaining its late November 2024 launch forecast as a ‘work to’ date, although the pace of work is currently ‘a number of weeks’ behind that forecast.”
Full Story (NASA Space Flight)