Tag: Sends

SpaceX Launches 27 Starlink Satellites from California, Lands Falcon 9 Booster

Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX successfully launched 27 Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early Tuesday, October 27. The Starlink 15-16 mission lifted off at 12:25 a.m. PDT, with the rocket’s first-stage booster completing its 26th flight. The booster, which “entered service in January 2024,” successfully landed on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California, Mexico.
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)



Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 27 Starlink satellites from California (Launch occurs at the 29:37 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube

SpaceX Sends Second Starfall Reentry Vehicle Into Orbit

SpaceNews reports that “SpaceX launched a rideshare mission Oct. 20 whose payload included the company’s second Starfall reentry vehicle.” A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:04 a.m. EDT, carrying the vehicle as part of the Bandwagon-5 mission. The launch followed a one-day postponement due to unfavorable weather conditions near the booster’s planned landing site.
Full Story (SpaceNews – Subscription Publication)



Video

SpaceX launches ‘Starfall’ return capsule and 31 more payloads (Launch occurs at the 0:14 mark).
VideoFromSpace; YouTube

NASA Sends 4 CubeSats into LEO

ExecutiveBiz reports that NASA “has deployed a set of four small satellites to low Earth orbit aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron launch vehicle to test autonomous spacecraft swarm technologies in space.” The 6U-sized CubeSats “lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand and will demonstrate their ability to conduct maneuver planning, communications networking, relative navigation and autonomous positioning as a group with minimal supervision from ground mission controllers, NASA said Monday.” Funded by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology, the six-month Starling mission “is expected to pave the way toward advancing autonomous robotic swarms for future space and lunar science and exploration missions.”
Full Story (ExecutiveBiz)