Bloomberg reports Amazon “said it plans to launch the first two test satellites for its Project Kuiper constellation this fall on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, rather than its next-generation Vulcan, as previously planned.” The change “comes amid repeated delays of the debut launch of Vulcan, which has been in development for much of the last decade.” Space News reports spokesman James Watkins said the target launch date is September 26.
Full Story (Bloomberg); More Info (Space News)
Tag: launch
SpaceX Launches 22 More Starlink Satellites into Orbit
UPI reports that SpaceX successfully “launched a Falcon 9 rocket with another payload of Starlink satellites into space from Florida late Sunday.” The rocket “launched at 10:41 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, sending the 22 satellites into low-Earth orbit where they will join Starlink’s constellation of thousands of orbitals that provide high-speed, low-latency Internet worldwide.” SpaceX Senior Quality Systems Engineering Manager Kate Tice said the weather presented only a “10% of violating our launch commit criteria.” The launch “was SpaceX’s 53rd of the year and 252nd to date.” The first-stage booster “returned to Earth where it successfully landed upon the Shortfall of Gravitas droneship that was awaiting its arrival in the Atlantic Ocean.” Both fairing halves “used in the mission were flight tested, with one half flying its eighth mission and the other flying its 10th.”
Full Story (UPI)
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Starlink Mission, August 6, 2023
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Galaxy 37 Satellite from Cape Canaveral
Florida Today reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “vaulted away from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station early Thursday to carry a commercial communications satellite to orbit.” The 230-foot rocket “lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at 1 a.m. EDT.” The mission for Luxembourg-based operator Intelsat “carried the Galaxy 37 satellite, built by Maxar, which is the latest in a series to deliver television and communications services to customers around the globe.” The rocket’s first stage, which “flew its sixth mission to date, successfully landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone ship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida.” Of the 39 launches from the Space Coast this year, SpaceX “has carried out all but two of them.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
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Intelsat G-37 Mission
(SpaceX; YouTube)
Final Antares 230+ Rocket Lifts Off to Resupply ISS
Spaceflight Insider reports that in near-perfect weather, the final Antares 230+ rocket “took to the skies to send the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station.” Carrying the autonomous NG-19 Cygnus resupply freighter, dubbed the S.S. Laurel Clark, the Antares rocket successfully “launched at 8:31 p.m. EDT Aug. 1 (00:31 UTC Aug. 2), 2023, from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.” It flawlessly lifted off “from its launchpad, drawing a bright arc of light against the fading evening sunset, marking the start of another critical cargo run to the ISS.” Some 8,200 pounds (3,700 kilograms) of supplies, hardware and experiments “are aboard NG-19. It is expected to arrive at the ISS on the morning of Aug. 4 where it will be captured by the outpost’s robotic arm and attached to the Earth-facing port of the Unity module.” Over the coming weeks, members of the station’s Expedition 69 crew “will work to unload the cargo before beginning to reload it with trash.” After about two months, Cygnus “is expected to depart the ISS for an eventual destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Insider)
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Last Antares Rocket Using Russian Rocket Engines
Spaceflight Now; YouTube)
Northrop Grumman Prepares for Final Antares Flight
Space News reports that a Cygnus cargo spacecraft “is set to launch to the International Space Station on the final flight of a version of an Antares rocket with Russian and Ukrainian components.” NASA and Northrop Grumman “completed a launch readiness review July 30 for the NG-19 mission, approving plans to launch the spacecraft on Aug. 1 at 8:31 p.m. Eastern from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia.” The Cygnus is “carrying nearly 3,750 kilograms of cargo to the station, including experiments, hardware and crew supplies.” An on-time launch “would allow the spacecraft to arrive at the station early Aug. 4 and remain there at least three months.”
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX Launches 22 Starlink Satellites After Scrubbing Separate Mission
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)
Falcon Heavy Launch Scheduled for Late Wednesday
The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that SpaceX is “rolling out its powerful Falcon Heavy for a late-night launch Wednesday that will feature double sonic booms of its returning boosters that might shake up Central Florida.” The rocket “is one of the most powerful available for Space Coast launches, essentially three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together that produce 5.1 million pounds of thrust at liftoff.” The payload for this mission “is a telecom satellite for Hughes Network Systems called the EchoStar Jupiter 3 aiming for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A during a 99-minute launch window that opens at 11:04 p.m.” A backup opportunity “falls during the same window Thursday.” Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron “predicts an 85% chance for good weather Wednesday, and 60% if the backup window is needed on Thursday.”
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel)
SpaceX Launches Another Batch of Starlink Satellites
UPI reports that SpaceX “launched its latest round of Starlink communication satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida just before midnight Saturday.” The mission had “been scrubbed Friday, with SpaceX saying a static fire of the rocket’s main engines would need to be performed, giving a hint to a possible rocket hardware issue.” The Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage, which “launched the 54 satellites, safely returned to Earth, touching down on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, marking a record-tying 16th safe launch and landing of the rocket’s booster.” The first stage of another Falcon 9 rocket “launched on July 9 also landed safely on Earth for the 16th time, setting a record for the company. Saturday’s launch tied that record.” The return of Saturday’s first stage “marked the 207th time SpaceX has safely returned the first stage.”
Full Story (UPI)
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Starlink Mission
On Saturday, July 15 at 11:50 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 54 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)
SpaceX’s Starlink Launch Scrubs Seconds Before Liftoff, Rescheduled for Weekend
Florida Today reports that SpaceX’s latest attempt “at launching another batch of Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was scrubbed just seconds before liftoff early Friday.” Originally set to fly “during an hour-and-a-half long window that opened at 12:10 a.m. EDT, the mission to send 54 of the flat-pack satellites to low-Earth orbit was aborted forty seconds before liftoff from Launch Complex 40.” No reason “for the scrub was immediately provided by SpaceX.” SpaceX’s next opportunity “to launch the 230-foot rocket on a southeasterly trajectory is early Saturday, July 15, at 12:15 a.m. EDT.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
SpaceX Extends Record to 16 Missions for Falcon 9 Rocket
Aviation Week reports that SpaceX “launched the same Falcon 9 rocket for a record 16th time on July 9 and then landed the first stage, paving the way for a possible 17th flight.” The booster first “flew in May 2020 to send NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on their way to the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
Starlink Mission
On Sunday, July 9 at 11:58 p.m. ET, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)