SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has been grounded, at least for a little while. A Falcon 9 successfully launched 21 of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites this morning (Aug. 28), sending them to orbit on the record-breaking 23rd mission for the rocket’s first stage. That booster encountered a problem during its return to Earth, however, toppling over …
FAA Requires Investigation Into SpaceX Falcon 9 Landing Failure. Read More »
Japan has called an end to its SLIM moon mission after failing to make contact with the lander since April. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) on a H-IIA rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center on Sep. 7, 2023. The diminutive lander made a successful, yet lopsided, …
Japan Declares Its SLIM Moon Lander Dead At Last. Read More »
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just set a new reusability record, on what may have been its final flight. The Falcon 9 launched 21 of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites today (Aug. 28), lifting off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:48 a.m. EDT (0748 GMT). It was the 23rd mission for this rocket’s first …
On Sept. 8, 2024, a satellite named Salsa will re-enter the atmosphere and burn up. What makes this re-entry different is that its operators have carefully guided it down from 81,250 miles (130,000 km) to burn up safely over a hand-picked region of the South Pacific — if all goes to plan. Salsa will be …
This European Satellite Will Fall From Space Soon In A Spicy Reentry. Read More »
Polaris Dawn was originally scheduled to launch early Monday morning (Aug. 26) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but SpaceX pushed things back a day to perform more preflight checkouts. The company then called the planned Tuesday (Aug. 27) attempt off after detecting a helium leak, targeting Wednesday (Aug. 28) instead. But now Mother …
SpaceX Delays Polaris Dawn Astronaut Launch Until At Least Aug. 30 Due To Bad Weather. Read More »
The closest approach to the Moon was at 23:15 CEST (21:15 UTC) on 19 August, guiding Juice towards a closest approach to Earth just over 24 hours later at 23:56 CEST (21:56 UTC) on 20 August. As Juice flew just 6840 km above Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, it snapped a series of images …
Juice Rerouted To Venus In World’s First Lunar-Earth Flyby. Read More »
India plans to launch a key test of its Gaganyaan crew vehicle before the end of the year as the country gears up for human spaceflight missions. Some rocket hardware for the uncrewed Gaganyaan test flight has arrived at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, on the huge barrier island Sriharikota, Chairman of the Indian Space …
India To launch Gaganyaan Crew Capsule Test Flight By End Of 2024. Read More »
We’ll have to wait at least another day to see SpaceX’s historic Polaris Dawn astronaut mission lift off. Polaris Dawn, which will conduct the first-ever private spacewalk, had been scheduled to launch early Tuesday morning (Aug. 27) from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But a helium leak has forced a delay of at least …
SpaceX Delays Polaris Dawn Astronaut Launch To Aug. 28 Due to helium leak. Read More »
Call it one high leap for astronaut science. The Polaris Dawn mission, funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than Tuesday morning (Aug. 27). It has two major operations goals: to perform the first-ever private spacewalk and to fly higher than any crewed spacecraft …
SpaceX Polaris Dawn Astronauts Will Conduct High-Flying Research In Earth Orbit. Read More »
Blue Origin will launch its eighth human spaceflight this week, if all goes according to plan. Jeff Bezos‘ company is targeting Thursday (Aug. 29) for NS-26, its latest suborbital space tourism mission. The reusable New Shepard rocket-capsule combo is scheduled to lift off from Blue Origin‘s West Texas site at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT; …
Blue Origin’s Next Space Tourism Flight Will Launch On Aug. 29. Read More »
