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)
Tag: launch
Blue Origin Set to Launch New Glenn Following Weekend Weather Delay
Spaceflight Now Update at 10:40 am ET: “NASA scrubbed the launch due to strong solar impacts.”
Spaceflight Now reports Blue Origin was able to secure permission from the Federal Aviation Administration for a daytime launch. According the article, Blue Origin will “take another crack at launching its 98-meter-tall (321 ft) New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Wednesday, Nov. 12.” An 87-minute launch window “opens at 2:50 p.m. EST (1950 UTC) on Wednesday.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
Watch Launch Live
Spaceflight Now
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Another 28 Starlink Satellites from California
SPACE reports, “SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink satellites today (Oct. 27),” sending 28 of them up from California’s central coast. Launch took place “at 8:43 p.m. EDT (5:43 p.m. local California time).” The rocket’s first stage returned “to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes later, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’”
Full Story (SPACE)
SpaceX Launches 10,000th Starlink Satellite to Orbit
SPACE reports, “SpaceX notched two big milestones on a single Falcon 9 liftoff today (Oct. 19). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT; 12:24 p.m. local California time). Those 28 included the 10,000th Starlink spacecraft ever to reach orbit.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Firefly Aerospace Anticipates Resumption of Alpha Launches Soon
Space News reports, “Firefly Aerospace expects to resume Alpha launches in the ‘coming weeks’ with two flights planned before the end of the year. The company shared details of its return-to-flight efforts during a Sept. 22 earnings call, its first since going public on the Nasdaq Aug. 7.”
Full Story (Space News)
SpaceX Launches Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL on its First Mission
SPACE reports, “SpaceX launched Northrop Grumman’s new “Cygnus XL” cargo ship on its debut mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday evening (Sept. 14). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Cygnus freighter lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EDT (2211 GMT).” NG-23’s Cygnus XL “is scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Wednesday (Sept. 17) at 6:35 a.m. EDT (1035 GMT).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches CRS NG-23 to the ISS. (Launch occurs at the 58:58 mark)
NASASpaceflight; YouTube
SpaceX Launches 1,900th Starlink Satellite to Orbit in 2025
Spaceflight Now reports SpaceX continued its blistering pace of orbital launches with its ninth and final Starlink launch of August. Liftoff of its Falcon 9 rocket “from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station” took place “at 7:49 a.m. EDT (1149 UTC). It flew on a north-easterly trajectory upon departure from Florida’s Space Coast.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral (Launch at the 1:00:28 mark)
SpaceX Starship Completes Successful Test Flight After Previous Launch Setbacks
The New York Times reports, “After several disappointing failures, SpaceX’s Starship — the mammoth rocket that Elon Musk hopes to use to take people to Mars — made it all the way up to space and all the way back down to Earth during a 10th test flight on Tuesday night. The largely successful mission was a likely relief to both SpaceX and NASA, suggesting that the development program is back on track. NASA is counting on Starship as the lander to put its astronauts on the moon in the coming years.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)
Video
SpaceX Starship Completes Successful Test Flight (Launch at the 2:59:19 mark)
NASASpaceFlight; YouTube
SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Space Force’s X-37B Spaceplane
Spaceflight Now reports, “A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered off launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida shortly before midnight, carrying with it a military spaceplane known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The launch Thursday night kicked off the eighth mission for the program, which began operational flights in April 2010. United States Space Force (USSF) officials confirmed separation of the Boeing-built spacecraft in the hours following liftoff at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 UTC on Aug. 22).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the X-37B (Launch at the 58:35 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
AIAA Statement on the NASA SpaceX Crew-11 Launch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) CEO Clay Mowry made the following statement:
“We congratulate the entire NASA SpaceX team on its successful Crew-11 launch to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA’s reuse of the SpaceX Falcon rocket and Dragon spacecraft continues to show us that reusability is the future of launch.
We are eager to follow the crew through its mission, demonstrating the value of scientific research conducted onboard the ISS that will help prepare us for our off-world future of human exploration of the moon and eventually on to Mars.
We applaud this mission to the ISS through NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, demonstrating the collaboration between NASA and private industry to continue America’s leadership in low Earth orbit. With NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut, and a JAXA astronaut, Crew-11 continues NASA’s ongoing commitment to international cooperation – a hallmark of space exploration.
AIAA is honored to recognize the countless aerospace professionals involved in making this mission a success. We salute NASA, SpaceX, and Crew-11 for shaping 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 www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.