Tag: return to flight

Falcon Heavy Returns to Flight with ViaSat-3 Mission

Space News reports, “A SpaceX Falcon Heavy launched the third and final terabit-class ViaSat-3 broadband satellite toward geostationary orbit April 29, putting Viasat on course to finish a constellation more than a decade in the making. The first flight of a Falcon Heavy in more than 18 months lifted off at 10:13 a.m. Eastern from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, with its two side boosters returning to nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station about eight minutes later for reuse.”
Full Story (Space News)

Video

Falcon Heavy launches from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, April 29, at 10:13 a.m. ET. (Launch occurs at the 25:11 mark)
The Launch Pad; YouTube

NASA Weighs Next Crew Vehicle as Starliner Return Plans Advance

Space News reports, “As NASA prepares to launch a new crew to the space station, the agency has yet to decide which spacecraft it will use for the next crew rotation mission … NASA has said Starliner-1 could launch as soon as April 2026. At a Feb. 9 briefing on the upcoming Crew-12 launch, however, the agency said it had not set a more specific launch date.”
Full Story (Space News)

FAA Clears Falcon 9 to Resume Launches

Space News reports SpaceX is ready to resume Falcon 9 rocket launches as soon as July 27 after completing an investigation into an upper stage anomaly two weeks earlier. “SpaceX said it is targeting as soon as July 27 at 12:21 a.m. Eastern for the rocket’s return to flight, carrying a set of Starlink satellites on the Group 10-9 mission from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Two other Falcon 9 launches, also of Starlink satellites, are tentatively scheduled for July 28 from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Space Force Base.”
Full Story (Space News)

 

Commander of U.S. Space Command Conveys Confidence in Falcon 9’s Quick Return to Flight

Space News reports, “The head of U.S. Space Command expressed confidence July 17 that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will soon return to flight following a recent mishap. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, revealed that he visited SpaceX’s Starlink satellite factory in Seattle the day after a July 11 incident that led to the grounding of the Falcon 9 fleet. ‘We showed up and some of their senior leaders were there and they were very transparent, giving us insight into what had happened,’” Whiting said.
Full Story (Space News)