Commercial crew astronauts check Crew Dragon controls

Bob Behnken (Left) and Eric Boe (Right) Evaluating the controls
Credit: SpaceX

Astronauts that will be flying to the ISS in Boeing's CST-100 Starliner and SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft visited SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, CA to evaluate the controls of the spacecraft. Bob Behnken and Eric Boe checked out the controls, seating and the crew compartment of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. They sat in a mockup of the cockpit and looked at the aspects of the layout of the displays and the ease of movement in the seats while using the control panel. SpaceX has designed their spacecraft to allow the crew to be comfortable for their ride to the ISS and build models like these to be tested to help determine the practicability of all the systems. Bob and Eric, along with Doug Hurley and Suni Williams have been traveling the country to evaluate the designs of both SpaceX's and Boeing's spacecrafts as the two companies work toward their first launches next year.

SpaceX's first launch from LC-39A

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

SpaceX has been working hard on getting their new launch pad ready. Launch Complex 39A, which used to launch Space Shuttles and Apollo Saturn V rockets, was leased to SpaceX in April of 2014 to support the launches of their Falcon Heavy rocket. With the pad anomaly back in September resulting in the loss of the vehicle and payload along with major damage to the launch pad, SpaceX will now be launching their Falcon 9 rocket to catch up on their backlog. They have officially announced on Twitter that the first launch from LC-39A will be CRS-10 with the Dragon spacecraft to carry supplies to the ISS and will launch on February 18th at 10:01am EST. It is said to be a "Return to launch site" (RTLS) 1st stage landing and will be the first daytime landing

CRS-8 standing at Launch Complex 40
Spaceflight News

back on land. Nearly 2,029 kg (4,473 lb) of pressurized cargo will be loaded into the ISS and 977 kg (2,154 lb) of unpressurized cargo will be stored in Dragon's trunk. One of the primary payloads that will be carried up and mounted to the ISS is the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment, also known as SAGE III. After being mounted onto the Space Station, it will make long-term measurements of ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other gasses in Earth's atmosphere.

SBIRS GEO-3 satellite to launch aboard Atlas V rocket

Atlas V NROL-36 standing on Launch Pad at VAFB
 (Credit: United Launch Alliance)

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket will be launching the SBIRS GEO-3 satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin and being launched for the U.S Military to detect missile launches and provide tactical support. The launch is set for January 19th from Launch Complex 41 in Cape Canaveral, Florida with a launch window that opens at 7:46 pm EST. SBIRS is The Space Based Infrared Systems Geosynchronous Earth Orbit and will be the third of this satellite to be launched in 2011 and will replace the old DSP (Defence Support Program) constellation that has been in operation since 1970. The satellite will help in early missile detection using infrared equipment. The rocket will fly in its 401 configuration with a 4m wide fairing and 1 Centaur second stage engine with no SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters).

Successful launch of 10 Iridium satellites by SpaceX

SpaceX has successfully launched and deployed 10 Iridium satellites for communications. As well as successfully launching the Falcon 9 back to flight, they landed the first stage back on the droneship JRTI (Just Read The Instructions) for the first time from the West Coast. During the livestream after first stage separation, the video feed from the first stage continued all the way down to the landing on the droneship without losing connection for the first time. Becoming the first US Launch of the new year, SpaceX launches with a successful launch and return to flight.

SpaceX to launch 10 Iridium satellites

Falcon 9 vertical at VAFB, California
Photo: SpaceX

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 14th) at 12:54 pm EST/5:54 pm UTC SpaceX will return to flight with the launch of 10 satellites for IridiumNEXT atop a Falcon 9. This will be the first launch by SpaceX after their launch pad anomaly during fueling of AMOS-6 which was caused by a fault in the second stage helium tank. The Falcon 9 will be launching from VAFB (Vandenburg Airforce Base), California at Space Launch Complex 4E. The first stage will then separate approximately 2 minutes and 27 seconds after liftoff and will be attempting to launch back on the droneship "Just Read The Instructions". If the first stage lands successfully, it will be the first time they've landed on JRTI. These 10 satellites are the first of at

Official Iridium-1 patch
Photo: SpaceX

least 70 in the constellation that SpaceX will be launching for Iridium. They will replace the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-earth orbit satellites which will become one of the largest tech upgrades in history. The satellites will be deployed 10 at a time by SpaceX and all of at least 70 will be in orbit by 2018. 

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.