Tag: launch

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches for First Time in Three Years

Space News reports that a SpaceX Falcon Heavy “lifted off Nov. 1 at 9:41 a.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, carrying the U.S. Space Force USSF-44 mission to geostationary Earth orbit.”  This is the fourth flight of the Falcon Heavy since 2018 “and the first in more than three years.”  Launch of the classified  USSF-44 mission, originally scheduled in 2020 but delayed several times, involved “a direct-to-geostationary orbit launch carrying two Space Force satellites and small rideshare payloads.”   Space Systems Command confirmed through a news release Tuesday evening that the mission was a success.  USSF-44 marks a milestone for SpaceX “as its first direct-to-GEO operational mission, requiring the Falcon Heavy upper stage to perform a long-duration coast and engine re-start.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

 Video

USSF-44 Mission, November 1, 2022
(SpaceX; YouTube)

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Readies for Halloween Launch

CNET News reports, “The Falcon Heavy mission dubbed USSF 44 is the next launch on deck for pad 39-A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, currently set for Oct. 31 at 9:44 a.m. ET (6:44 a.m. PT). The Space Force describes it as a classified mission.” The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful rocket ever launched, and will remain so until the Artemis I lifts off as scheduled in November of this year.
Full Story (CNET News)

Rocket Lab Launches NOAA-Funded Wildlife Tracking Satellite

Spaceflight Now reported, “Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket Friday from its privately-run spaceport in New Zealand, boosting a 260-pound satellite into orbit on a $64 million NOAA-funded mission to relay environmental data from remote weather stations and help track global wildlife movements.” The mission is the latest in a line of Argos environmental data relay satellite launches, and is a partnership between General Atomics, NOAA, and CNES (the French space agency). The mission sent the GAzelle satellite into a polar orbit about 466 miles above Earth, where it is planned to operate for five years.
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

SpaceX Falcon Heavy Could Launch This Month After Three-Year Wait

Spaceflight Now reports, “More than three years after SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last blazed a path into orbit, the 28-engine launcher is finally set to fly again as soon as Oct. 28 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a long-delayed national security mission for the U.S. Space Force, a military spokesperson said.” The Falcon Heavy mission “is expected to be the next launch from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy following the liftoff Wednesday of a Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon capsule carrying a crew of four to the International Space Station. SpaceX ground teams at pad 39A will prepare the pad for the Falcon Heavy, which has a different configuration than the Falcon 9 with three Falcon rocket boosters connected together to triple the launcher’s total thrust.” Spaceflight Now adds that the delay between Falcon Heavy launches is due to a lack of payloads for the rocket.
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

ULA’s Atlas V Launches from Cape Canaveral

Spaceflight Now reports that a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 5:36 p.m. ET, “on a delivery mission for the commercial telecom satellite operator SES.”   The mission is noteworthy as it marked “the first commercial Atlas 5 launch into geosynchronous orbit.” More than six hours after liftoff, the rocket’s Centaur upper stage deployed the SES 20 and 21 satellites, which are set “to begin 15-year missions beaming C-band television and raido programming across the United States.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

 

  Video

ULA’s live broadcast of its Atlas V SES-20/21 mission launch.
(ULA; YouTube)

NASA Prepares for Wednesday SLS Fueling Test

Spaceflight Now reported that engineers “are ready to reload NASA’s Artemis moon rocket with supercold fuel Wednesday to make sure a repaired liquid hydrogen quick-disconnect fitting is leak free, one of two requirements that must be met before the agency can make a third attempt to launch the huge booster September 27 on the program’s maiden moonshot.” NASA is awaiting a waiver from the Space Force Eastern Range “allowing the unpiloted launch to proceed without first double-checking the health of batteries in the rocket’s self-destruct system.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

 

 Watch the Artemis I launch live on NASA TV

The next anticipated launch window will take place in late September 2022.

SpaceX Scrubs Starlink Launch Attempt a Third Time

Spaceflight Now reports that for “the third day running, bad weather forced SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt at Cape Canaveral Thursday night. The Falcon 9 is now scheduled to lift off Friday, weather permitting, to carry the next 54 Starlink internet satellites into orbit.” The launch is planned to take place Friday at 9:05 p.m. EDT, “when forecasters predict a 50-50 chance of acceptable weather conditions. The persistent threat of evening thunderstorms remains in the outlook Friday night, but with a slightly lower chance of violating weather constraints.” Friday’s launch, “designated Starlink 4-34, will carry 54 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Artemis I Launch Delayed to at Least September 27

SPACE reports that NASA announced Monday it is now targeting September 27 for the Artemis I launch. NASA is planning to conduct an SLS fueling test for September 21. NASA officials wrote Monday, “The updated dates represent careful consideration of multiple logistical topics, including the additional value of having more time to prepare for the cryogenic demonstration test, and subsequently more time to prepare for the launch.”
Full Story (SPACE)

 

 Watch the Artemis I launch live on NASA TV

The next anticipated launch window will take place in late September 2022.

NASA SLS Rocket’s Flight Termination System May Further Delay Launch

The Washington Post reports on the Flight Termination System for NASA’s Space Launch System, a “detonation system designed to destroy the rocket in case it starts to veer wildly off course and threaten people on the ground.” The system, while “a vital and ubiquitous” safety component, is “creating a bit of a headache for NASA as it struggles to launch the SLS rocket for the first time.” Although the Space Force “requires the batteries on the SLS’s termination system to be recharged” regularly, this task can “only be done in the rocket’s assembly building,” further delaying “a launch that last week was waived off twice because of other technical problems, including a massive leak of the liquid hydrogen the rocket uses for fuel.” The Space Force had already extended its battery charging time window, and NASA is in discussions “for a waiver that would allow the time frame to be extended yet again,” although the waive would “have to extend the initial 20-day requirement to over some 40 days, since the earliest NASA could attempt a launch is a two-week period that begins Sept. 19.”
Full Story (Washington Post)