On Track for a Double Header – NOT! –Updated Again

FMN Photos by Mark Stone and Charles Boyer

UPDATE #2 : The USSF-52 launch has now been pushed to Wednesday night, the 13th. Weather forecast is not good, so stay on top of this one! Starlink still on for tonight…for now.

UPDATE: after a disappointing “Double Scrub” on the 11th, both launches have been rescheduled for same times tonight, Dec. 12th. Weather for the Falcon Heavy is 80% “go”, and 65% “go” for the Starlink mission, according to the SLD-45 Weather Squadron’s latest forecast.

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.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Pauses Science Due to Gyro Issue

Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Photo: NASA

NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode November 23rd due to an ongoing gyroscope issue. The agency is also saying that the venerable spacecraft is stable and that otherwise the instrument is “in good health.”

Space Force Sets X-37B Launch for December 10th

US Space Force X-37B. Photo: Boeing Corporation

The US Space Force announced today that the launch of its secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is now set for December 10. At this time, no specific launch time on that date has been announced. Originally planned for December 7th, the launch was delayed due to “launch delays and pad availability.”