China has started building its second enormous satellite-internet constellation in low Earth orbit (LEO). A Long March 5B rocket lifted off from Wenchang Space Launch Center on the island of Hainan Monday (Dec. 16) at 5:00 a.m. EDT (1000 GMT; 6 p.m. local time), carrying 10 broadband spacecraft aloft. Everything went well, according to the …
Chinese astronauts living aboard the Tiangong Space Station created a world record on December 17. Two of the Shezhou 19 crew members conducted a marathon nine-hour Extravehicular Activity (EVA) or spacewalk, highest ever in spaceflight history while working outside the station. The EVA was precisely clocked in at nine hours and 6 minutes. According to …
NASA has again postponed the return to Earth of Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams, the astronauts stranded on the International Space Station after Boeing’s Starliner capsule malfunctioned in the middle of this year. The crew of the spacecraft arrived at the ISS in June. The objective was to test the Starliner’s comprehensive capabilities, including launch, …
The Starliner Astronauts Will Be Stranded Until March. Read More »
SpaceX launched two communication satellites from Florida’s Space Coast today (Dec. 17) on the second leg of a spaceflight doubleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center today at 5:26 p.m. EDT (2226 GMT), carrying the O3b mPOWER 7 and 8 satellites toward medium Earth orbit (MEO), about 5,000 miles (8,000 …
SpaceX Launches 2 mPOWER Satellites From Florida On 2nd Leg of Spaceflight Doubleheader. Read More »
SpaceX test-fired the upper stage of its seventh Starship megarocket again recently, this time practicing for an in-space engine burn. The company ignited all six of the Flight 7 Starship spacecraft’s Raptor engines for about 10 seconds on a test stand at its Starbase facility in South Texas on Sunday (Dec. 15). SpaceX announced that …
SpaceX Test-Fires Starship Spacecraft Again Ahead of Flight 7 Launch. Read More »
SpaceX’s 31st robotic cargo mission has made it back to Earth. SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule splashed down off the Florida coast at 1:39 p.m. EDT (1839 GMT) today (Dec. 17), a day after undocking from the International Space Station (ISS). CRS-31 returned to Earth with thousands of pounds of equipment and experiment specimens from ongoing …
SpaceX’s 31st Dragon Cargo Capsule Returns To Earth With Splashdown Off Florida Coast. Read More »
The European Commission on Monday awarded contracts to push forward delayed plans for a 10.6 billion euro ($11.13 billion) secure European satellite constellation in response to Elon Musk’s Starlink and other fast-growing internet networks. The multi-orbit array of more than 280 satellites known as IRIS² will provide an encrypted backbone for European Union governments and …
EU Kick Starts New Secure Satellite Constellation. Read More »
SpaceX launched the mysterious RRT-1 mission from Florida’s Space Coast today (Dec. 16), after high winds scuttled a previous attempt. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (Dec. 16) at 7:51 p.m. EDT (0051 on Dec. 17), kicking off a mission that SpaceX called RRT-1. The company had aimed …
SpaceX Launches Mysterious RRT-1 Mission, Lands Rocket On Ship At Sea. Read More »
Things are getting hot for SpaceX’s next Starship launch. SpaceX fired up its next Starship spacecraft during an engine test over the weekend, ahead of the company’s 7th orbital test flight of the gargantuan megarocket. SpaceX ignited Starship’s Raptor engines for approximately 10 seconds on Sunday, Dec. 15, as a part of a series of …
Watch SpaceX Starship Test Fire Engines Ahead Of Flight 7 Launch. Read More »
SpaceX’s 31st robotic cargo mission is headed back to Earth. SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) on schedule today (Dec. 16) at 11:05 a.m. EST (1605 GMT) today (Dec. 16). The spacecraft will begin a series of deorbit burns to complete the company’s 31st commercial resupply services mission (CRS-31) for …
SpaceX’s 31st Dragon Cargo Capsule Departs ISS To Head Home To Earth. Read More »
