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After busy week with NASA, SpaceX set to make history yet again with StarLink
We can all agree; SpaceX has had arguably their busiest year yet. Between two Crewed Human missions (Demo-2 & Crew-1), Increased customer partnerships, most recently with NASA & Sentinel- 6A (the first west coast launch this year), and now The 16th Orbital launch of StarLink. Beyond the planned deployment of an additional 60 StarLink satellites into Low Earth Orbit, this isn't just a regular Starlink mission. This will be the first 7th orbital re-flight of a Falcon 9 First stage booster. This fl
Sentinel-6A; Vital Earth Science mission marks first West Coast launch of 2020
One of the most important scientific missions of 2020, and the second collaboration to launch with partners Space X & NASA this week, Sentinel-6A & a brand new Falcon 9 Booster leaped off of California Launch Pad SLC-4E for the first time in over 18 months. The Central California Coast was awakened yesterday morning, for the first time in over a year, to the sound of Nine Merlin-1D Engines rumbling through the Pacific skies. At 9:17am PST on November 21st, Space X successfully launched their 100
Why the next Electron launch is important
Tomorrow at 8:44pm EST, Rocket Lab is launching their Electron rocket from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand. The launch is named "Return to Sender" and will be carrying 30 satellites into a 500km orbit around the Earth. One of the payloads on this mission is a Gnome from the game Half-Life, 3D printed from Titanium. This launch is to qualify the 3D printing technique for future components on spacecraft. The reason this launch of Electron is important is the introduction of reusability to t
SpaceX and NASA safely deliver 4 Astronauts to the ISS
Tonight at 11pm EST, SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft with Astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and JAXA Astronaut Soichi Noguchi riding onboard. Shortly they will be opening the hatches between the ISS and Crew Dragon and will join the Expedition 64 crew that launched on a Soyuz rocket on October 14th. After troubleshooting a small air leak issue before fueling, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launched from Launch Complex 39a at 7:27pm EST carrying the crew of 4 into orbit around th
SpaceX's first operational crewed mission to the ISS launches tonight
Tonight at 7:27pm EST, 4 Astronauts will be strapping into SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of their workhorse Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 will be launching from Historic Launch Complex 39a, where many Apollo and Space Shuttle launches took place. This will be the first operational crewed mission for SpaceX and the first launch of a Certified Commercial Spacecraft developed and tested by a commercial company. The last human-certified spacecraft was NASA's Space Shuttle orbiter, the ico
NROL-101 Launched into Orbit
On November 13th, at 5:32 PM EST, United Launch Alliance (ULA) launched their Atlas V with the NROL-101 satellite creating a spectacular sight in the sky, as the rocket launch in Earth's shadow and got to peak at the sun's rays as it rose into orbit. This was launching the newest spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office, meaning it was heavily classified and not much more information is public other than that they are capable of collecting optical and radar imagery of the ground and
ULA successfully launches secret NROL-101 mission
United Launch Alliance successfully launched their Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida yesterday evening carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. This Atlas V launch wasn't like the previous ones this year, the solid rocket boosters are the new Northrop Grumman Epoxy Motors (GEM), which will be used on their later Vulcan rocket, which is currenty under development with its inaugural launch being July of next year. ULA's Vulcan rocket is a 2 stage rocket, wit
Falcon 9 Staic Fires; Storm Eta approaches prior to weekend Launch of Crew-1
Amid dreary clouds and gusty winds, Space X managed to fire all nine Merlin-1D engines for a brief moment, in a Static Fire test leading up to one of the most important Space Mission's in recent history.Early morning, Wednesday, November 11th, Space X rolled Falcon 9 B.1061 with Crew Dragon Ship, Resilience, out to the launch pad at Historic LC-39A. Following a minor second stage valve replacement which delayed testing the day before, the private aerospace company and customer, NASA, were ready
ULA Scrubs NROL-101 due to Ground System Issue; Resets Launch Window 48 hours
Last night, on November 4th, the unfortunate trend of Ground Systems Equipment scrubbing Space Coast rocket launches, continued with the Atlas V: NROL-101 mission.Following a 24 hour delay related to a Fairing Environmental problem (which was subsequently resolved), launch provider United Launch Alliance made the call to proceed with launch operations, and rolled the Atlas V- 531 launch vehicle to the Pad on Wednesday morning ahead of the NROL-101 mission. Once the vehicle arrived back at the l
NASA re-affirms Space X Crew-1 Launch Date as Astronauts prepare to travel to KSC
As we throttle ahead into the final months of 2020, NASA and Space X are moving forward with final preparations for one of the most important milestone mission's of the last decade. On Tuesday, November 3rd, NASA & the NASA Commercial Crew Program released a series of press statements and took to social media to update the public on the upcoming series of events leading up to Launch Day. First and foremost, it was confirmed that the 4-person Crew ( Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, &
Artemis-1 Just got a Little Closer
On Friday October 30th, NASA concluded the final test of the Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) by driving it back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) after a weeklong excursion out at Launch Complex-39B. This step gets us just a little bit closer to the inaugural flight of the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) with Artemis-1. During that test, NASA rehearsed the process of driving the MLP out to the pad and hooking it up to the ground Systems in place.Now this isn’t the only recent milestone of the