CBS News reports, “SpaceX on Friday pulled off a test launch of its latest Starship megarocket. CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood has the latest.”
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SpaceX launches Starship V3. (Launch at the 6:58 mark)
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Aviation News reports, “Rocket Lab has successfully launched its ninth dedicated mission for the Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, deploying a new StriX radar satellite into orbit. Originating from New Zealand, this latest launch reinforces one of the most reliable commercial partnerships in the small satellite sector.”
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Reuters reports, “SpaceX aims to reach 10,000 launches annually within five years, but government officials will need to see improved reliability before approving such an expansion, the head of the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said hemet with SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, who told him about the company’s ambitious goal. SpaceX conducted 170 launches in 2025 deploying about 2,500 satellites.”
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Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Tuesday night to send a batch of its Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit … Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 7:46 p.m. PDT (10:46 p.m. EDT / 0246 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.”
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg. (Launch occurs at the 30:00 mark)
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CBS News reports, “SpaceX launched an unpiloted Dragon cargo ship Friday loaded with 6,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station, including nearly a ton of research gear, samples and other material for some 50 different science investigations.”
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NROL-172 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (Launch occurs at 30:26 mark)
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Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX is now targeting no earlier than Tuesday, May 19, for the long awaited debut of the third major iteration of its Starship-Super Heavy rocket.” The mission will test a host of changes made to both the launch vehicle and the launch infrastructure as SpaceX prepares to support the Artemis 3 mission.
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Spaceflight Now reports, “The National Reconnaissance Office flew its 13th mission supporting an intelligence-gathering constellation it calls the “proliferated architecture” on Monday night. As with the first dozen missions, this batch of satellites (of an undisclosed quantity) flew to orbit on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, dubbed NROL-172, launched from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base. Liftoff happened at 7:13:50 p.m. PDT (10:13:50 p.m. EDT / 0213:50 UTC), nearly four hours after the opening of the window.”
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NROL-172 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (Launch occurs at 30:26 mark)
Spaceflight Now: YouTube
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SPACE reports that SpaceX just took a big step toward its next Starship test flight, firing up all 33 engines of the vehicle’s Super Heavy on the pad in Texas.
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Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched 45 payloads on an overnight rideshare mission aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Station early Sunday morning. The mission, dubbed CAS500-2, is named for the primary payload called Compact Advanced Satellite 500-2 from the Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. (KAI). It’s the second of two satellites that KAI calls Phase 1 of its CAS500 program, which is designed for ‘precision ground-based observation.'”
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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)
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