Next Launch to Examine Earth’s Climate: PACE Satellite Targets 1:33am Tuesday Liftoff

PACE POSTER
Image Credit: NASA

In an era where understanding Earth’s climate dynamics is more critical than ever, NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission, aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, will be a vital asset to furthering and tracking our knowledge of the Planet. Set to launch from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40, this mission embodies the culmination of years of meticulous planning and collaboration between NASA and SpaceX, aiming to extend our comprehension of the planet’s climate system and its intricate processes. Lift is set for 1:33am Tuesday morning with the first stage booster returning to LZ 1 at CCSFS.

NASA Announces Crew-9 Roster: Who Are They?

NASA Announces Crew-9 Roster: Who Are They?

Crew 9 Portrait
Official NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 portrait: (L-R) Stephanie Wilson, Aleksandr Gorbunov, Nick Hague, and Zena Cardman.
NASA

NASA today announced the four astronauts that will travel aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station later this year: Zena Cardman will be the Mission Commander,  Nick Hague will be the Pilot, along with Stephanie Wilson and Russian Mission Specialist Aleksandr Gorbunov will travel to ISS no earlier than August 2024.

SpaceX Launches Northrup Grumman NG-20 From the Cape

SpaceX Falcon 9 Lifts off from Pad SLC-40 at Canaveral Space Force Station on January 30, 2024.
Photo: Chris Leymarie, Florida Media Now

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Jan. 30, 2024 SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying the Northrup Grumman NG-20 mission toward ISS this afternoon. The launch was at 12:07 PM EST from the company’s launch pad at SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Once it had completed its part of the mission, Booster 1077 completed its tenth flight when it safely touched down at Landing Zone 1, about 5.6 miles to the south of where it launched a little more than eight minutes earlier.

SpaceX Delays NG-20 Launch By One Day

The launch of Northrup-Grumman’s Cygnus NG-20 has been delayed until Tuesday, January 30th at 12:07 PM EST.

William Gerstenmaier, SpaceX’s vice president of Build and Flight Reliability, said in a news conference on January 26th that, “it’s taken a lot of modifications on our part to get this hardware ready to go fly, and we want to make sure it goes right. We think it is good to delay a little bit and make sure we get all this activity right and we’re ready to get this cargo inserted into Cygnus and get ready to fly on Tuesday.”

Axiom-3 Launches From Kennedy Space Center

Launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 with four astronauts aboard on the Axiom-3 Mission.
Photo: Charles Boyer

Minutes before a warm front brought heavy showers to Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX launched the Axiom 3 mission on a 16 day round trip to the ISS. Four Axiom Space astronauts rode the chartered Space-X Crew Dragon module to orbit on top of a Falcon 9 booster at 4:49 PM EST this evening. The all-European crew is expected to dock at ISS in two days’ time and stay aboard the station until February 3, 2024.

Ax-3 Crewed Rocket Launch and Sonic Boom Expected Tomorrow

Ax-3 on the pad
(Image credit: Axiom Space)

Axiom Space’s third commercial astronaut mission, Ax-3, is set to be a historic event as the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission underscores a new era in space travel, where access to low-Earth orbit (LEO) is becoming increasingly commercialized and international.

SpaceX Launches Ovzon 3 From Cape Canaveral

SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 4, 2024.
Photo: Charles Boyer
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida on January 4, 2024. The missio n is carrying a powerful telecommunications satellite for the Swedish company Ovzon
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

A SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying a telecommunications satellite for Swedish-American company Ovzon lifted off from Pad SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Station at 6:04pm EST this evening. After carrying its part of the mission, the booster used for the mission returned for a successful landing at Space-X’s Landing Zone 1 only a short distance away.

What’s In Store for the First Launch of 2024? Only the most powerful GEO satellite ever…..

A Falcon 9 Launches from LC 40
A SpaceX Falcon9 rocket lifts off from pad LC40. Image by Richard P. Gallagher/FMN
Next Up: The Ovzon-3 mission is scheduled to launch on 1-3-2024 at 6:04pm from LC40  

The Ovzon-3 mission involves the launch of the first privately funded and developed Swedish geostationary satellite. As you can imagine, it’s quite a big deal for Sweden, as the country joins the international community of commercial spaceflight.

SpaceX Launches 125th Starlink Mission Late Saturday

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lofts another batch of Starlink Satellites to Orbit.
Timelapse of Falcon 9 Rising from Cape Canaveral Saturday, December 2, 2023
Photo by: Charles Boyer / FMN

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket on the company’s 125th Starlink mission Saturday night, and added another group of Starlink satellites into the growing constellation of over 5,500 small satellites that provide internet access globally for its customers.

Launch Alert: SES O3b mPOWER Satellites

SES O3b mPower Satellite
OpenAI Illustration of the O3b mPOWER satellite in orbit.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AT A GLANCE:

  • Rocket: SpaceX Falcon9
  • Booster: B1076 9th flight
  • Payload: O3b mPOWER Satellites 5 and 6
  • Time: Launch Window from 4:08pm to 5:37pm
  • Date: 11-12-23
  • Location: LC40 CCAFS, Florida
  • Booster landing: on A Shortfall of Gravitas
  • Trajectory: will be to the East
  • Weather: is predicted to be mostly cloudy.