SPACE reports, “Russia’s new Soyuz 5 rocket has taken to the skies at long last. The Soyuz 5 lifted off for the first time ever on Thursday (April 30), rising off a pad at the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT; 11:00 p.m. local time in Baikonur).”
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Launch of the new Soyuz-5 rocket (Launch occurs at the 21:14 mark)
Мир авиации; YouTube
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.”
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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
Aviation News reports, “China has reached a pivotal milestone in its commercial aerospace ambitions with the full completion of a state-of-the-art ‘super factory’ in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province.”
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China launches a Lijian-2 Y1 carrier rocket on March 30, 2026 (Launch occurs at the 0:01 mark)
ShanghaiEye; YouTube; Framegrab
Spaceflight Now reports, “United Launch Alliance completed its second Atlas 5 rocket launch of the month, marking the company’s fastest turnaround at Space Launch Complex 41 to date. It beats the previous record by nearly three days.”
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ULA Atlas V launches from Cape Canaveral.
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX is preparing to launch its first Falcon Heavy rocket in more than a year and a half. The Monday morning flight of the triple booster rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center will feature the landing of the two side boosters at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.”
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SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab sent eight Japanese satellites to orbit from New Zealand on Wednesday night (April 22), including one with a unique “origami” construction. An Electron vehicle launched the “Kakuchin Rising” mission from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site on Wednesday at 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 GMT and 3:19 p.m. local New Zealand time on Thursday, April 23).”
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Aviation Week reports, “Blue Origin says initial data suggests one of two BE-3U upper-stage engines did not deliver sufficient thrust to dispatch the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite to its intended orbit. The power issue occurred on the GS2 upper stage’s second burn, Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said April 20. The issue has temporarily sidelined New Glenn as the company assesses what caused the malfunction.”
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The New York Times reports, “A rocket built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company appeared to launch perfectly on Sunday, its booster even landing successfully on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. A few hours later, however, it became clear that all had not gone well. The massive New Glenn rocket had failed in its primary task: putting a commercial satellite into the proper orbit. This is a setback not only for Blue Origin, but also possibly NASA. Although the space agency played no role in Sunday’s mission, it is counting on Blue Origin to support the Artemis moon program.”
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Spaceflight Now reports, “Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket roared to life in a critical pre-launch demonstration of its main engines Thursday, less than an hour after the Sun crested over the horizon in Florida. The seven BE-4 engines fired for about 20 seconds, at 7:45 a.m. EDT (1145 UTC). Engineers will now pore through the data and if everything looks good, the launch with AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird-7 satellite could take place as soon as Sunday, April 19.”
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SPACE reports, “SpaceX began and ended the day with Starlink launches. The company sent two Falcon 9 rockets soaring, first from Florida before sunrise on Tuesday (April 14), and then from California after sunset the same day (by local time zone). Both launches were successful, according to SpaceX”
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 14. (Launch occurs at the 0:13 mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube