Atlas V and Starliner sits on Launch Complex 41 Monday night. Photo: United Launch Alliance
UPDATE: Several sources are now reporting that Starliner will have to be rolled back from the pad with a new launch date NET May 17th.
Cape Canaveral It was all going well until it wasn’t. That’s often the story with launch attempts: tens of thousands of things must work perfectly, perform as planned, and operate normally, and only one thing has to go wrong for the attempt to be called off.
The Crew Access Arm enables the astronauts to board the spacecraft. Photo by United Launch Alliance
NASA’s Commercial Crew program will take a big step forward on Monday, May 6th with the launch of the Boeing Starliner Calypso’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT-100). Scheduled for a 10:34 PM EDT liftoff, Starliner Calypso will carry its first-ever crew to the ISS on an important test flight. (The spacecraft was named in honor of the research vessel Calypso, used by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau from 1950-1996.)
Another 23 Starlink satellites are set to be sent to orbit aboard a Falcon 9 this evening from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 09:49 PM EDT and extends until 01:17 AM EDT Friday.
If tonight’s planned liftoff does not happen, according to SpaceX, “If needed, additional opportunities are also available on Friday, May 3, starting at 9:03 p.m. ET.”
A Delta IV Heavy launches from United Launch Alliance’s facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN
Spring Hill, FL – As the commercial space industry in Florida continues its unprecedented growth, a sleepy Nature Coast county is not just watching the rockets soar; it’s preparing to leverage that growth.
Unoccupied AxEMU lunar EVA suit underwater at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, Texas. Date unknown. Photo: Axiom Space on X.com
Houston, Texas One of the critical tasks for the upcoming Artemis missions is completing new spacesuits for astronauts to wear while on the lunar surface. The suits are critical, as they must protect astronauts from severe temperatures, the moon’s lack of a meaningful atmosphere, and sharp, jagged lunar regolith. In September 2022, NASA awarded Axiom Space a $228.5 million contract to develop the next-generation spacesuit for the Artemis III mission to the moon.
A spent second stage as imaged by Astroscale Japan’s Adras-J spacecraft in April 2024. Photo: Astroscale Japan
In his classic book “The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy” writer Douglas Adams once said that “Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.”
Starliner’s second uncrewed flight test launched last year. A crewed flight test is scheduled for May 6, 2024 Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
NASA’s Commercial Crew directorate has announced the results of the Readiness Review for the planned launch of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner flight test: they are “go” for launch at 10:34 PM EDT on May 6.
Timing Suggests Possibility of Jellyfish Phenomenon
Model of Galileo Communications Satellite Photo: Wikipedia
SpaceX is set to launch a pair of long-delayed navigation satellites tomorrow night (April 27) at 8:34PM from Pad 39A at KSC.
The satellites, FM25 and FM27, are being launched aboard a Falcon 9 booster as part of Europe’s MEO Galileo constellation. They will join 26 other satellites that began launching in 2011 to form part of a high-precision navigation system for the European Union.
Astronauts Willmore and William pose for photographs after arriving at the Shuttle Landing Facility in NASA T-38 jet trainer aircraft. Image by Richard P. Gallagher
Kennedy Space Center, FL – Greeted by members of the press, Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the KSC Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) formerly known as the ShuttleLanding Facility (SLF) aboard a NASA T-38 jet Thursday afternoon. The two NASA astronauts will be aboard the first crewed launch of the new Boeing Starliner crew module early next month.
Launching atop a ULA Atlas V booster no earlier than May 6th at 10:34 PM EDT, the pair will head to the ISS for a 10-day stay on what will effectively be a “shakedown cruise” for the Starliner. Otherwise known as a flight certification test, a successful flight will see the Starliner routinely used to send astronauts to low Earth orbit.
A Chinese Long March 2F/G stands on its pad during prelaunch testing for the Shenzhou 18 mission. Photo: CNSA
JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China — In another step toward enhancing its space capabilities, China launched three astronauts to the Chinese Space Station aboard the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft on Thursday evening. The mission, part of China’s rapidly advancing space program, aims to reinforce its position in the global space race with ambitious plans including lunar expeditions.
The official crew portrait for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. Left is Suni Williams, who will serve as the pilot, and to the right is Barry “Butch” Wilmore, spacecraft commander. Photo credit: NASA
It’s getting real y’all. In less than two weeks, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will climb aboard the new Boeing Starliner crew capsule for a test flight that will carry them to the International Space Station for a 10-day stay. Launching no earlier than 10:34 PM EDT on May 6th, the flight represents the first crewed flight test of the Starliner.
A representative view of a Starlink launch at night from SLC-40 with a low cloud deck. Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
SpaceX plans to send another tranche of 23 Starlink satellites to orbit Monday evening from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch window opens at 6:40 PM EDT and extends to 10:40 PM.
