Defense Daily reports, “Rocket Lab [RKLB] on Tuesday announced the successful launch of a suborbital mission using its HASTE launch vehicle with missile defense technology payloads operating for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Defense innovation Unit (DIU). The company said the launch took place at its Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Va., on the morning of Nov. 18.”
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Tag: rockets
SpaceX Launches Joint NASA-European Research Satellite
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.”
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ULA Atlas 5 Rocket Launches ViaSat-3
Spaceflight Now reports the mission was the second of three planned spacecraft that Viasat plans to operate in geostationary orbit. United Launch Alliance launched from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station “at 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC), the opening of a 44-minute-long window. The rocket headed due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.”
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Video
ULA Atlas 5 launches ViaSat-3 F2 communications satellite. (Launch occurs at the 59:66 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
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.”
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Video
Watch Launch Live
Spaceflight Now
SpaceX Launches 560th Falcon 9 Rocket to Date Following Saturday Scrub
Spaceflight Now reports, “Following a last minute scrub Saturday morning, SpaceX launched a batch of Starlink satellites in the predawn hours of Sunday morning. The launch came as the Federal Aviation Administration readies a rollout of commercial launch restrictions for U.S. airspace.” The mission was SpaceX’s 560th Falcon 9 rocket launch to date, with liftoff taking place at pad 39A “at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 9 at 3:10 EST (0810 UTC).”
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Video
SpaceX performs its 560th Falcon 9 rocket launch to date from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (Launch occurs at the 59:12 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
Rocket Lab Launches Earth-observing Radar Satellite to Orbit in 6th Mission for Japanese Company iQPS
SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab launched its sixth mission for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS this afternoon (Nov. 5) from its seaside pad in New Zealand. An Electron rocket carrying the QPS-SAR-14 satellite, nicknamed Yachihoko-I, lifted off from Rocket Lab’s New Zealand site today at 2:51 p.m. EST (1951 GMT; 8:51 a.m. on Nov. 6. local New Zealand time).”
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Video
Rocket Lab launches Japanese Earth-observation satellite. (Launch occurs at the 00:10 mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
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.’”
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Japan’s New HTV-X Cargo Spacecraft Launches to ISS for 1st Time
SPACE reports, “Japan’s new HTV-X cargo spacecraft launched on its first-ever mission to the International Space Station on Saturday (Oct. 25). The robotic HTV-X lifted off atop an H3 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 9 a.m local Japan time on Oct. 26).”
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Video
JAXA HTV-X1 Cargo Launch (Launch occurs at the 15:50 mark)
NASA; YouTube
SpaceX Performs 550th Falcon 9 Launch
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its 550th Falcon 9 mission since the rocket’s debut in 2010. The launch from California added 28 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s Starlink constellation.” The Starlink 11-5 mission was the 95th flight in 2025 supporting the low Earth orbit internet constellation. “Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT / 1416 UTC).”
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Video
SpaceX Falcon 9 launches on the 11-5 mission (Launch occurs at 30:28 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
SpaceX Performs Record-Breaking 31st Flight with Falcon 9 First Stage Booster
SPACE reports, “A Falcon 9 carrying 28 of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station [Sunday] at 1:39 p.m. EDT (1639 GMT). It was the record-breaking 31st mission for this Falcon 9’s first stage, a booster designated 1067.”
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