SPACE reports SpaceX launched 21 satellites for an advanced new U.S. military constellation this evening (Oct. 15). A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base “today at 7:06 p.m. EDT (2306 GMT; 4:06 p.m. local California time), on a mission for the Space Development Agency (SDA).”
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Falcon 9 Launches with 21 Communications Satellites (Launch occurs at the 17:13 mark)
Space Affairs; YouTube
Ars Technica reports, “SpaceX closed a troubled but instructive chapter in its Starship rocket program Monday with a near-perfect test flight that carried the stainless steel spacecraft halfway around the world from South Texas to the Indian Ocean. The rocket’s 33 methane-fueled Raptor engines roared to life at 6:23 pm CDT (7:23 pm EDT; 23:23 UTC), throttling up to generate some 16.7 million pounds of thrust, by large measure more powerful than any rocket before Starship. Moments later, the 404-foot-tall (123.1-meter) rocket began a vertical climb away from SpaceX’s test site in Starbase, Texas, near the US-Mexico border.”
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SpaceX Starship 11th Flight Test (Launch occurs at 0:10 mark)
TheLaunchPad; YouTube
SPACE reports SpaceX moved its Super Heavy booster to the pad recently to gear up for Flight 11 of its Starship megarocket. The rollout is “part of the leadup to Starship’s 11th test flight, which is scheduled for Monday (Oct. 13) at 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT).
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SPACE reports, “Blue Origin launched its 15th space tourism flight” yesterday (Oct. 8), “sending six people on a brief trip to the final frontier, including a mystery passenger who only revealed his identity after the flight. The company’s New Shepard vehicle lifted off from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site [Wednesday] at 9:40 a.m. EDT (1340 GMT; 8:40 a.m. local Texas time), kicking off a suborbital flight known as NS-36.”
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Breaking Defense reports, “The Space Force announced today that it has assigned the first seven future launches under its National Security Space Launch Program (NSSL) program for critical missions: five to SpaceX and two to United Launch Alliance (ULA). NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 launches carry high-value, must-go payloads and/or those headed to orbits that are more difficult to achieve. The Space Force is using firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery contracts for these types of launches.”
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Aviation Week reports, “The first stage of a Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket being prepared for launch on a commercial mission for Lockheed Martin was destroyed Sept. 29 during preflight testing at the company’s Briggs, Texas, facility. ‘During testing at Firefly’s facility in Briggs Texas, the first stage of Firefly’s Alpha Flight 7 rocket experienced an event that resulted in a loss of the stage,’ the company said in a statement.”
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Aviation Week reports, “Blue Origin is developing three new suborbital New Shepard launch systems and mulling expanding flight services beyond West Texas, the company said Sept. 28. The current two-ship fleet will be retired by the end of 2027, with the first of three new spacecraft expected to debut next year, Senior Vice President Phil Joyce said during the Global Spaceport Alliance forum ahead of the International Astronautical Congress being held in Sydney this week.”
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Via Satellite reports, “Amazon’s Project Kuiper constellation reaches 129 satellites after United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched another batch on Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was Kuiper’s fifth launch overall, and the third mission with ULA on an Atlas V rocket. Amazon confirmed post-launch the mission was successful. The launch deployed 27 Kuiper satellites to an altitude of 465 kilometers, and they will orbit-raise to their final altitude.”
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ULA Atlas V Launches Project Kuiper (Launch takes place at the 54:45 mark)
NASASpaceflight; YouTube
Spaceflight Now reports the Starlink 10-15 mission came a day after SpaceX launched a trio of spacecraft to study the effects of the Sun. “Liftoff from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station” took place at 4:39 a.m. EDT.
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from Cape Canaveral (Launch takes place at the 59:47 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube
SPACE reports SpaceX performed a full-duration static fire test with its latest Starship spacecraft recently to help gear up for the 11th test flight of the massive “megarocket, which may be just around the corner.”
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