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SpaceX successfully completes their first Polar launch from Cape Canaveral, FL
This evening at 7:18pm EDT, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral, FL into a Polar Orbit around the Earth. A Polar Orbit is an orbit that follows North and South, instead of launching into an orbit that goes East and West. This is the first time a rocket has launched a payload into a polar orbit from Cape Canaveral since the 1960s, when the Air Force launched a rocket that experienced a failure, causing debris to fall toward Cuba and killing a cow. The Falcon 9 lifted
Rocket Lab is returning to Flight tonight
After experiencing an anomaly on their last launch in July, the Rocket Lab teams analyzed all the data and pinpointed it down to a single anomalous electrical connection, causing the second stage engine to shutdown too early and not putting the second stage and payload into orbit. Now returning back to flight after solving that issue, Rocket Lab is ready to launch their 14th mission, "I Can't Believe It's Not Optical". This is a dedicated mission for Capella Space carrying their 100kg microsatel
Back-to-back launches at the Cape today
Today is a day full of launches: 2 SpaceX launches, 1 SpaceX Starship hop, and a Rocket Lab launch from New Zealand, which you can read more about here.Just focusing on the rocket activity in the US, first up at 10:12am EDT, SpaceX is launching yet another batch of Starlink satellites from LC-39a in Cape Canaveral, FL, adding to their ever-growing fleet of satellites for global internet coverage. The first stage on this mission previously flew on the GPS III SV03 mission at the end of June, and
Technical issue pushes NRO launch at least 7 days
After some technical issues pushing the launch time from 2:04am to 3:28am, United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy rocket called an abort at T-3 minutes just as the engines were getting ready to ignite. The launch vehicle has since been saved at the pad and has all propellants drained out of the tanks. United Launch Alliance teams will be reviewing all of the data from last nights launch attempt and have a minimum recycle time of 7 days to get the rocket ready to liftoff. An issue with a ground
SpaceX breaks another reusability record
This morning at 10:31am EDT, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida’s East coast in Cape Canaveral, FL. The Falcon 9 launched from LC-40 carrying another batch of Starlink satellites as well as some small satellites for PlanetLabs as a part of their rideshare program. On this mission, the fairing halves are being reused from the 4th Starlink mission and one of them was caught out in the Atlantic Ocean using their recovery boat Ms. Tree. The second fairing half landed in the water and w
SpaceX launches their tenth batch of Starlink satellites
Last night, SpaceX launched their Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39a at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 57 Starlink satellites and 2 BlackSky satellites as a part of their ride share program. This is the 5th time this first stage has flown, previously supporting the DM-1 mission, 2 Starlink Missions, and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission. At 8.5 minutes into the launch, the first stage successfully landed on their drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" stationed out in the A
SpaceX successfully returns Astronauts back to Earth for the first time
Yesterday afternoon at 2:49pm EDT, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with US Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of Pensacola, FL.After spending ~2 months on board the International Space Station, they undocked at 7:34pm EDT on Saturday and began a series of burns that would bring them safely away from the ISS before heading back into Earth’s Atmosphere. Yesterday at 1:56pm EDT, about 18 hours after leaving the ISS, Crew Dragon initiated i