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.