SpaceX beginning to launch in 2017

SpaceX LC-39A taken April 8th, 2016 - Spaceflight News

Falcon 9 rocket to launch IridiumNEXT satellites

SpaceX now has a Planning Date of January 15th for the launch of EchoStar 23 from their new Launch Complex 39A, formally used for launching the Apollo missions and the Space Shuttles. This will be the first launch from here since Atlantis launched with STS-135 in 2011. They also have a date of NET (No Earlier Than) January 8th for the launch of 10 IridiumNEXT satellites. They're just waiting for FAA approval so dates may be subject to change, so don't plan for these exact dates for launch.

SpaceX remembering ORBCOMM-2

1 year ago today, SpaceX returned to flight after the CRS-7 explosion from an overpressurization in the second stage. They launched ORBCOMM-2 and landing the first stage back to Cape Canaveral for the first time becoming the first rocket ever to return from space and land. From then they've proceeded to land on their droneship several times and another time on land with CRS-9. May their return to flight with EchoStar 23 NET January 8th, 2017 be as successful as the last. Best of luck to SpaceX for their upcoming Return To Flight.

ULA ends the year with EchoStar XIX

United Launch Alliance (ULA) ended the year of US launches by powering the EchoStar XIX (19) satellite into a Geostationary transfer orbit to bring high-speed internet to Americans. The Atlas V launched at 2:13 pm EST carrying the 15,000-pound satellite off the pad. The new satellite is now the world's highest capacity broadband satellite that will connect high-speed internet to Rural parts of America. 

Delta IV boosts WGS-8 into orbit

On top of a Delta IV rocket, the $426 Million WGS-8 satellite was

launched into a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the Earth. The Delta IV blasted off the pad last night (Dec. 7th) at 6:53pm EST after igniting its main hydrogen-fueled engine and four strap-on solid rocket boosters. The spacecraft is called the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite 8, or WGS-8, which is a more advanced version of its predecessors with the first Wideband Digital Channelizer that doubles its capacity. WGS-8 can process data at 11 gigabytes per second with its advanced channeler compared to 6 gigabytes per second on the previous versions. With the solar arrays deployed, measured from tip-to-tip, the satellite has a larger wingspan than a Boeing 737, but smaller than a 747. 

Russian Progress spacecraft lost after 3rd stage anomaly

A Progress vehicle on a Soyuz-U rocket launched today to go and dock with the Space Station on Dec. 3rd with supplies and food for the astronauts and stay docked for several months. However, due to an error that occurred during the burn of the vehicle's third stage that caused the Progress spacecraft to reenter back into the Earth's atmosphere in a remote and unpopulated area in the mountains in Southern Siberia. The Soyuz-U rocket launched with Progress MS-04 spacecraft at 9:51am EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. All the events of the launch were going nominally and once the Spacecraft was in Space there was confusion whether the solar arrays and the navigation antennae have deployed or not. The supplies on Progress weren't too important and the crew members on the ISS will be okay without it. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet tweeted, "Spaceflight is hard, sorry to hear the news @roscosmos. We are fine up here and will function fine until the next supply spacecraft arrives".   

SpaceX return to flight date set

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch again on December 16th at 12:36PM PST from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The Falcon 9 will launch 10 Iridium satellites into Low Earth Orbit. It isn't confirmed whether they will attempt a 1st stage landing on the droneship, but looking at previous launches it is likely. This will be the first launch of the Falcon 9 since the anomaly on September 1st when it exploded on the pad shortly before a static fire test of the engines.

Bad altitude reading leaves ESA with a destroyed lander on Mars

European Space Agency officials reported Wednesday that one-second of misinterpreted data lead to the crash of the Schiaparelli lander on the surface of Mars. The lander's Internal Measurement Unit, or IMU, gave the spacecraft's navigation computer the wrong data making it think that it had already landed onto the surface when it was about 12,000ft (3,700m) above the surface. The nine thrusters were supposed to fire for about 30 seconds to help slow the descent of the lander to land but hit the ground at nearly 200mph(300km/h) causing the craft too, which they believe, explode since the fuel tanks were full. This landing would've been ESA's first successful landing on Mars to pave the way for the ExoMars mission to launch in July 2020. Officials believe that they will learn enough information from the crash to keep the 2020 mission on track to a successful landing. 

Cygnus launches toward the International Space Station

Orbital ATK's Antares rocket carrying Cygnus launched from

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Wallops Island, Virginia en route to resupply the International Space Station. Antares carried Cygnus off the pad at 7:46pm EDT igniting its new engines for the first time since the failure back in 2014. Cygnus was separated from the Castor 30XL solid fuel second stage at approximately 7:55pm EDT, 9 minutes after liftoff. Both of the spacecraft's solar arrays were successfully deployed around 9:28PM EDT and is now awaiting to approach the International Space Station. Cygnus has to wait for the new arrival of the 3 new crew members arriving at the station Friday in a Soyuz spacecraft. The station crew members will capture Cygnus and is expected to dock Sunday, around 7:05am EDT. 

Orbital ATK Antares to launch to ISS this afternoon

Orbital ATK is going to launch their Cygnus spacecraft

today aboard the Antares rocket to resupply the International Space Station. Antares will launch from Wallops Island, Virginia at 7:40pm EDT. Cygnus will carry over 5,300lbs of cargo to the ISS. Antares and Cygnus were rolled out to the pad and raised vertically over the weekend and was supposed to launch yesterday but was scrubbed due to an error with a ground equipment cable. 9 minutes after launch, Cygnus will separate from the second stage and deploy its solar arrays about 1 hour and 20 minutes after. Once Cygnus rendezvous, the crew will grapple the spacecraft with the canadarm and dock it to the ISS. After the mission at the station is over, it will undock from the ISS and conduct the Sapphire-2 Space Combustion experiment from NASA's Glenn Research Center to

burn material and study open flames in space. During this time, Cygnus will deploy several small CubeSats from an external NanoRacks deployer. At the end of the mission, Cygnus will conduct a safe reentry over the Atlantic Ocean, completing the mission. All photos credit of Orbital ATK.

China launches two crew members to Tiangong-2 Station

China successfully launched 2 crew members on their Shenzhou-11 rocket to the Tiangong-2 space lab for 30 days. The spacecraft will dock with the space station in 2 days and they will conduct experiments related to medicine and physics. The spacecraft will undock and land back to Earth 1 day after undocking. The landing is planned to occur on November 19th. This will mark another step forward for the countries goal of creating a permanent station in space by the 2020s. The full video of this launch can be viewed here.

Blue Origin tests in-flight abort

On October 5th, Blue Origin launched it's reused New Shepard rocket to test their in-flight abort system for the crew capsule in case something were to go wrong. Video of the in-flight abort test can be viewed here.

NOAA to launch GOES-R Weather Satellite

NOAA is going to launch a new weather satellite that will give new High-Definition data for weather predictions. GOES-R will launch aboard an Atlas V rocket into a Geostationary orbit above the US on November 4th at 5:40pm EDT. This data will give a real-time view of the weather in a way we've never seen it before. Some members of the media had a chance to view the Spacecraft before in the Astrotech cleanroom and learn about its functions and the instruments used onboard. They described the upgrade in the imagery as going from Black and White TV to Full HD, so the change is going to be huge. 

Next launch to the Space Station by Orbital ATK

Antares being prepped for launch

Orbital ATK is currently targeting a launch date no earlier than October 9th-13th for the launch of the Cygnus spacecraft. Cygnus will launch atop Orbital ATK's Antares 230 rocket and will be the first time it has flown since the failure on October 28th, 2014. This will also be the first Enhanced Cygnus to fly into orbit and to the Space Station. They will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. A final specific date of the launch will be announced once the final operation milestones and technical reviews are finished. Media credentialing has been opened and the deadline for US Citizens is September 30th. Members of the media should send their accreditation request to keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.

Falcon 9 could launch from SpaceX's other launchpads

Jason-3 set to launch at the VAFB in California
on  January 17th, 2016

SpaceX is still looking into what caused the Falcon 9 to explode on September 1st before the static fire, but have hopes to return to flight in November. SpaceX has leased NASA's old Space Shuttle launch complex 39A to turn into a new launch pad that can launch the Falcon Heavy as well as Falcon 9 rockets. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president, said that they hope to launch Falcon 9 missions from LC-39A. SpaceX also has a launch site in California at the Vandenberg Air Force Base to help support missions. 

NASA's OSIRIS-REx launches toward the asteroid Bennu

NASA's OSIRIS-REx launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 8th at 7:05pm EDT. It launched atop an Atlas V rocket with one strap-on solid rocket booster in the 411 configuration. The probe's purpose is to go to the asteroid Bennu and collect a surface sample. The spacecraft has many scientific instruments to learn about the asteroid and monitor it. It has specially designed solar arrays that can gimbal toward the sun and are extended pointed away from the asteroid. OSIRIS-Rex is also one of the few

spacecraft's to have many small thrusters on its body to help with orientation and translation. The surface sample will be taken by an arm on the spacecraft that extends outward. It's a telescoping arm so the surface sampler can touch the surface for about the 3 seconds it needs for the correct amount of it. It releases nitrogen gas to push the regolith or light surface rock, into the sample canisters. It'll put the canister into the sample return capsule and go on its return trip back to Earth, where the capsule will parachute back into Utah and the spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere. It is planned to return in September of 2023. 

NASA's Historic Spacecraft to launch this evening

Photo from the Kennedy Space Center
Facebook page

Tonight at 7:05pm EDT, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on an Atlas V. The Atlas V is in its 411 configuration with a 4m fairing, 1 solid rocket booster, and 1 centaur upper stage engine. The weather has improved to a 90% chance of favourable weather. More than 8,000 viewers are at KCS to view the launch of this historic mission to the Asteroid Bennu. View the live broadcast of the launch here on NASA TV. 

Falcon 9 explodes during static fire fueling

On September 1st around 9:07am EDT a Falcon 9 rocket with AMOS-6 was fueling for the planned hold down firing of its nine Merlin engines when an anomaly occurred causing the loss of the rocket and the payload that costed around $200 million. A few days before launch, SpaceX raises the launch vehicle vertical and begins fueling it and go through a regular launch sequence. Then, they ignite all nine Merlin engines to ensure that everything is functioning correctly and usually lasts a few seconds. During the fueling process, an explosion occurred around the area where the strongback umbilical connects to the second stage. This caused the tanks to rupture under pressure and

the liquid contents of the second stage ignited and poured down onto the first stage. The structural integrity of the first stage weakened and the tanks ruptured, which caused the second large explosion. The cause of the initial ignition is still unknown, but the SpaceX team is working hard to find the cause so they can return to flight as soon as possible. The explosion of the rocket caused damage to the launch pad and major damage to the strongback. This event is not like what happened during CRS-7 last year when a broken strut caused an overpressurization event in the second stage resulting in the loss of the vehicle and payload. With this also being an issue with the second stage, this creates a larger setback for SpaceX's launch manifest. SES also stated that what happened doesn't change their plans on launching with a recovered booster. SES-10 was set to launch sometime in October, but with damage to the pad and strongback it may be

pushed back. All photos used are credited to US Launch report who also captured this intense video of the explosion. Updates to this anomaly can be found at SpaceX's website here. 

SES confirms flight with SpaceX's landed booster

CRS-8 Booster on the Droneship

SES, an international communications satellite operator in Luxembourg have officially announced that the same booster that

Launch of CRS-8

flew CRS-8 and was the first one to land on the droneship will boost SES-10 into orbit. They say launch date will be around October from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This will be the first ever flight of one of SpaceX's reused boosters. The launch of SES-10 will help show the reliability of the boosters and will help other customers to feel safer with using reused boosters for their payloads. CRS-8 launched on April 8th, 2016 carrying the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station and landing back on the droneship in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The SES-10 satellite is a

SES-9 on top of a Falcon 9

heavy satellite and needs a lot of velocity to carry it into the desired orbit. This means that the booster will have to land on thedroneship for the second time. SES-10's planned orbit is a Geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles above the Earth's surface.

SpaceX recovered booster on display

Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

SpaceX recently raised one of their flown boosters, from ORBCOMM-2, on permanent display in front of their HQ in Hawthorne, California. This stage launched 11 satellites into orbit and returned back to the land site at a landing pad using precision landing and trajectory algorithms. While going through multiple engine

relights and shutdowns and undergoing intense reentry speeds through the Earth's atmosphere, the booster landed back at Cape Canaveral, Florida at Landing Complex 1. When a first stage booster lands, it's covered in soot and gives it a cool look shown on the image to the left. This soot is formed on the body from flying through its own exhaust while doing reentry and landing burns. After washing up the booster, it was transported back to SpaceX's HQ in Hawthorne and waited to be lifted onto display. People watched as cranes lifted the booster into an upright position and attached the legs soon after.

NASA's OSIRIS-Rex viewed before encapsulation

NASA's OSIRIS-Rex was viewed by the media for the last time before encapsulation yesterday on August 20th. Members of the media entered the cleanroom where the Spacecraft sat on display with the Atlas V 4 meter fairing sitting nearby. The launch is set for September 8th aboard an Atlas V in its 411 configuration with one strap-on Solid Rocket Booster. During the media event, principal investigator Dante Laurette who has been working on the project for 12 years, helped to fill us in with the mission guidelines and goals. "Once the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft gets to Bennu, we'll basically be flying in formation with the asteroid.". The spacecraft will use the combination of four reaction wheels for orientation and sixteen small thrusters across it to keep its science instruments pointed at the asteroid. There are also star trackers on the spacecraft to help guide it through space using the stars. This is also the first spacecraft to launch with the sixteen low-thrust engines. Another feature of OSIRIS-Rex is the solar panels are on gimbals and have sensors to track the sun and keep the panels pointed at it. "We'll go from flybys into orbit and in orbit we and do characterization from points of interest," said Dante while explaining the timeline of the mission at the asteroid. For this mission, the required sample from the asteroid is 60g (2oz) of material. The spacecraft will do several low-altitude flybys of the asteroid until it's point of interest is chosen and is set to retrieve a sample. The arm on the spacecraft will extend and grab the required sample in 5 seconds of contact,

then put it in a detachable capsule that has a heat shield on it. The spacecraft will then leave the asteroid and mark its way back to Earth. Once to Earth it will decouple the capsule and have it spun up, "Like throwing a football," Dante explained. It will hit the atmosphere at 27,000mph and will gradually decrease as it descends. This reentry will have the fastest reentry speeds by NASA. The capsule will slow down to subsonic speeds and deploy the drogue, then the main parachutes for a landing at the Utah Test Training Range on September 24th, 2023.

NASA takes another step on their Journey To Mars

RS-25 engine test
Credit: NASA

Around 6 o'clock on August 18th, NASA tested another RS-25 rocket engine that will be a part of the Space Launch System's first stage. People gathered to watch the 420-second test fire of the RS-25 engine. These rockets are upgraded versions of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) so they can perform to the higher temperatures and stresses needed to propel the rocket into Space on it's way to Mars. The Space Launch System, or SLS, will be powered by four of the RS-25 rockets as well as two strap-on Solid Rocket Boosters that are manufactured by Orbital ATK. These boosters have been test fired in Utah as QM-1 and QM-2. NASA is aiming to launch SLS to the Moon with the Orion Spacecraft on top to gather data of the performance of the rocket and the Spacecraft during flight. 

Delta IV brings Twin Satellites to GTO

Last night at 12:52am EDT, the Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) rocket roared to life as it ignited it's RS-68 engine and 2 solid rocket boosters and flew off the pad. The rocket produced 1.1 Million pounds of thrust to push itself and 2 twin satellites into space. The twin satellites are for surveillance purposes launched into a Geosynchronous Orbit around the Earth. This orbit is so the satellites stay above the same part of Earth as it orbits. After fairing separation the live broadcast ended as requested by the customer. Seven hours later, a press release confirmed the two satellites made it successfully into their proper orbits leading to another successful launch by ULA. 

JCSAT-16 landed first stage arrives in Port Canaveral

JCSAT-16 first stage returning from Sea
Credit Mary Ellen Jelen / We Report Space

Closeup of slight damage from Reentry
Credit Mary Ellen Jelen / We Report Space

After SpaceX's perfect landing on the droneship Sunday morning, it rolls back into Port Canaveral. The first stage landed upright on Of Course I Still Love You after launching JCSAT-16 into it's Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). People watched as the 14-story tall rocket came over the horizon toward shore after a 3-day journey. Falcon 9 first stage arrived into Port Canaveral, Florida Wednesday around Noon. The droneship docked at Port Canaveral and a crane attached to the booster and lifted it off onto shore on a stand. Recovery teams will then begin work on removing the legs and positioning the booster horizontal onto a trailer to ship off to the hanger in KSC at Launch Complex 39A.

ISS Crew get ready for IDA-2 installation

IDA-2 being loaded into Dragon's Trunk

There was a spacewalk briefing Monday discussion the installation of the International Docking Adapter (IDA) that was launched to the ISS by SpaceX on CRS-9 back in July. The IDA is for the upcoming spacecraft, SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 Starliner. These spacecraft are launching Astronauts from US soil to the ISS under NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The installation first begins with extracting IDA-2 from SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft this afternoon. The Canadarm2 will bring the docking adapter over just a few inches away from the front of the Harmony Module. It will then sit there until Friday and wait for Williams and Rubins complete the installation during their 6.5-hour spacewalk. 

Delta IV launch early Friday morning

Early Friday morning at midnight, United Launch Alliance is

launching a Delta IV from Cape Canaveral carrying the third and fourth satellites for the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program, or GSSAP. The rocket will be launching in its Medium+ (4,2) configuration with a 4m payload fairing and 2 strap-on solid rocket boosters. Currently, weather favours an 80% chance of a successful liftoff. The launch will occur sometime between 12am-4am Friday, no exact launch time has been announced. If the launch gets delayed 24 hours there's another launch opportunity Saturday morning. 

CST-100 Crew Access Arm installed this morning

For the first time since the Space Shuttle era, there is a Crew access arm and Whiteroom at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Today, August 15th, the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft's Crew Access Arm was installed at ULA's launch pad for when their Atlas V launches crew to the ISS for the first time around 2017. Construction of the crew access arm began about 7 months ago, "This is another step in a long process we began back in February 2015 to construct our crew access tower.". It will take a few months to hook up and install everything on the tower and to test it. The lead of Boeing's Commercial Crew Launch Site, Lisa Locks said, "This is 

a momentous day. It's been a long time coming.". They're on track to launch Astronauts to the ISS in about 18 months. The forward and aft domes of the spacecraft that will launch on its first flight have been manufactured. 

SpaceX nails the landing with JCSAT-16 launch

Launch of JCSAT-16
Photo Cred: SpaceX

Sunday morning at 1:26am EDT, SpaceX successfully launched the JCSAT-16 satellite into it's GTO Transfer orbit. It The launch was a flawless on-time launch as SpaceX's Falcon 9 ignited all of its engines and flew off the pad. As the rocket's engines lit, the sky was illuminated as it travelled toward space. Unlike the CRS-9 launch of Dragon, the first stage continued along its ballistic trajectory toward the droneship OCISLY (Of Course I Still Love You) instead of doing a boostback burn back to land. Most high-velocity mission landings consist of a landing burn with 3 engines, but this landing was done using the single center engine for better control over the vehicle. As the first stage separated and fell toward  OCISLY the second stage continued to power JCSAT to its LEO parking orbit. The first stage the went through its reentry burn then shortly started the landing burn to softly touch down on the surface

JCSAT-16 first stage on Droneship after landing
Photo Cred: SpaceX

of the droneship located in the Atlantic Ocean. The second stage coasted until it reignited the engine to bring it's trajectory to the Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) and released JCSAT shortly after shutting down.

SpaceX to launch JCSAT-16

The SpaceX team is prepping for the launch of JCSAT-16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 1:26am EDT on Sunday. You can watch the launch live at http://www.spacex.com/webcast. The press kit can be found here.

SpaceX to launch Geostationary Satellite and attempt Droneship landing

JCSAT-14 First Stage on
Droneship on its way back to port

On Sunday, August 14th, SpaceX will be launching JCSAT-16 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is targeting a liftoff time of 1:26am EDT into a Geostationary orbit. Currently, the weather conditions give JCSAT-16 an 80% chance of a successful liftoff. The Falcon 9 completed the static fire for this mission late Wednesday in preparations for launch. Following the launch of JCSAT-16 the Falcon 9's first stage will separate and attempt another droneship landing on OCISLY (Of Course I Still love You) which is stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. During the first stage's reentry, it'll perform a series of burns to help slow it down and reduce stresses on the vehicle. From knowledge learned from the last JCSAT landings by SpaceX, this landing will be high in velocity and a lower chance of success. This will require a 3 engine landing burn instead of a single engine burn to deaccelerate at a higher rate to help land softly. The webcast for the JCSAT launch on Sunday can be viewed here at 1:06am EDT.

OSIRIS-Rex to launch on Atlas V 411 in a month

First launch of the Atlas V 411 with the
ASTRA 1KR Satellite

With the days counting down until the launch of OSIRIS-Rex, United Launch Alliance's unusual looking rocket will carry the spacecraft into orbit on September 8th. The Atlas V in the 411 configuration is a regular Atlas V but with one solid rocket booster strapped to the side of it. The stacking of the rocket started yesterday morning with the first stage booster going onto the Mobile Launch Platform at Launch Complex 41. the single solid rocket booster will be attached today and the Centaur boattail will be attached on Wednesday. The initial power of up the rocket and its systems will take place on Thursday. The critical checkout of the vehicle will happen on Monday, Aug. 15th.

Starliner Crew Access Arm Installation

Starliner and Crew Access Arm.
Photo by: Carleton Bailie/Spaceflight insider

Media credentials have now opened for viewing the installation of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner crew access arm on Aug. 13th. The deadline for applying is on Aug 10th and is for U.S citizens only. Apply for media credentials here.

Atlas V for OSIRIS-REx arrives at KSC.

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V in its 411 configuration that will carry OSIRIS-REx to space arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center by barge. The Atlas V arrived in its two separate stages, the Centaur second stage and the first stage booster. The Centaur second stage has one engine for this mission and one extra Solid Rocket Booster will be attached to the side of the Atlas first stage booster. OSIRIS-REx is an asteroid sample return mission by NASA to take a sample of the asteroid Bennu and return it back to Earth for research. The media has a chance on August 20th to view the spacecraft before encapsulation into its fairing.

ULA Interns launch high-powered sports rocket

A 50-foot high powered rocket built by ULA Interns launched high over Fort Carsen Army Post on July 24th. Working on their own time, they planned, designed, build, and tested all components of the rocket with the help of mentors. The 'Future Heavy' rocket stood at 50-feet tall, weighed more than 1,200lbs, and generated 6,600lbs of thrust off the launch pad. K-12 kids from Colorado helped create additional payloads that flew and were deployed during its flight. "It' is an exciting time to be in the space industry, and United Launch Alliance continuously works to excite the next generation of rocket scientists,astronauts, space entrepreneurs and enthusiasts," said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO. View the launch of the future heavy rocket here

Media gets chance to view OsIRIS Rex

OsIRIS Rex completed

Members of the media have been given the opportunity to view NASA's OsIRIS Rex spacecraft before it's encapsulated and launched on September 8th, 2016. Media accreditation is currently open and the deadline is August 15th (August 9th for foreign nationals). The media will be able to view and photograph the spacecraft that will be launched to asteroid Bennu for a surface sample. OsIRIS Rex will take a surface sample from the asteroid and return it back to Earth for research

.