SpaceX Planning Overnight Falcon 9 Launch

SpaceX Planning Overnight Falcon 9 Launch

July 2, 2024Posted inSpace News, SpaceX
A Falcon 9 heads to space in 2023, as seen from Rotary Riverfront Park in Titusville Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN
A Falcon 9 heads to space in 2023, as seen from Rotary Riverfront Park in Titusville
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

SpaceX plans to add more satellites to their Starlink constellation in the wee hours Wednesday morning with the Starlink 8-9 mission set to depart Space Launch Complex 40. Liftoff is currently targeted for 02:57 AM EDT with a launch window extending to 06:01:00 AM EDT the same day. If weather or technical reasons cause a scrub, an additional opportunities are also available on Sunday, July 7 starting at 12:28 AM EDT.

The booster used for the mission is Booster B1073, the same one that experienced an abort-at-ignition on its last launch attempt. After completing its boost cycle, B1073 on the company’s automated landing barge ‘A Shortfall Of Gravitas’ which is stationed at sea in the Atlantic Ocean offshore of the Carolinas. Since the booster will not be returning to the launch site, there will be no sonic booms on the Space Coast.

Florida Legislature Designates A1A as the Jimmy Buffett Highway

Florida Legislature Designates A1A as the Jimmy Buffett Highway

June 30, 2024Posted inFlorida News
Jimmy Buffet and Highway A1A sign
Image: BuffetNews.com

The Florida Legislature has officially designated the iconic Florida A1A highway as the “Jimmy Buffett Highway.” The coastal highway runs from Key West to the Georgia border. This decision honors the legendary singer-songwriter, whose music has long embodied the laid-back, coastal lifestyle cherished by Floridians and visitors alike.

Public Comments on SpaceX Starship Launch Facility at LC-39A Highlight Environmental and Safety Concerns

Public Comments on SpaceX Starship Launch Facility at LC-39A Highlight Environmental and Safety Concerns

June 29, 2024Posted inKSC, Space News, SpaceX
A Falcon Heavy prepares for launch at LC-39a in the shadow of SpaceX's new Starship Tower (right). Construction on the new tower is dormant, pending regulatory approval. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN
A Falcon Heavy prepares for launch at LC-39A in the shadow of SpaceX’s new Starship Tower (right). Construction on the new tower is dormant, pending regulatory approval. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN

Kennedy Space Center, Florida — SpaceX’s ambitious plans to repurpose Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center for its Starship/Super Heavy launch vehicle program have sparked a wide array of concerns from various public and private stakeholders.

Axiom Continues Making Steady Progress With Spacesuit Program, Collins Aerospace Drops Out

Axiom Continues Making Steady Progress With Spacesuit Program, Collins Aerospace Drops Out

June 28, 2024Posted inArtemis, Axiom Space, ISS, NASA, Space News
Artemis III partners – NASA, SpaceX, and Axiom Space – together conducted a successful pressurized simulation and the first test of its kind since the Apollo era. Courtesy of SpaceX via Axiom Space
Vital Program for Artemis and ISS Loses One of Two Vendors

Though they are often taken for granted, spacesuits are a vital part of US space efforts, both now with the International Space Station, and also later, when astronauts from Project Artemis undertake their EVA duties on the lunar surface. Without spacesuits, many of the necessary maintenance and upgrade duties on ISS cannot be performed, and obviously, without spacesuits, no one will be walking on the moon.

Space Debris from Russian Satellite Breakup Forces ISS Astronauts to Take Cover

Space Debris from Russian Satellite Breakup Forces ISS Astronauts to Take Cover

June 28, 2024Posted inSpace News

The U.S. Space Command has confirmed the breakup of the decommissioned Russian satellite RESURS-P1. The satellite disintegrated into over 100 trackable pieces of debris on June 26, 2024, at approximately 10:00 a.m. Mountain Time (1600 UTC). This event added to the growing mass of space junk orbiting Earth and forced astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to take cover.

Dream Chaser Won’t Be Ready for ULA’s Vulcan CERT-2 Flight

Dream Chaser Won’t Be Ready for ULA’s Vulcan CERT-2 Flight

June 26, 2024Posted inSpace News, United Launch Alliance
Teams process Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024, following its arrival from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Dream Chaser Tenacity will eventually undergo final testing and prelaunch processing inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of its inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable transportation system is contracted to perform a minimum of seven cargo missions to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand commercial resupply services to low Earth orbit. Photo: Sierra Nevada
Teams process Dream Chaser Tenacity, Sierra Space’s uncrewed cargo spaceplane, inside the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, May 20, 2024, following its arrival from the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio. Dream Chaser Tenacity will eventually undergo final testing and prelaunch processing inside the high bay of the SSPF ahead of its inaugural launch atop a ULA (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket from nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The reusable transportation system is contracted to perform a minimum of seven cargo missions to the International Space Station as part of the agency’s efforts to expand commercial resupply services to low Earth orbit. Photo: Sierra Nevada

In an announcement today, United Launch Alliance (ULA) stated that Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is off of the second flight of ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

NOAA Successfully Deploys GOES-U Satellite, Signals Nominal Functioning

NOAA Successfully Deploys GOES-U Satellite, Signals Nominal Functioning

June 26, 2024Posted inNASA, Space News, SpaceX
The GOES-U Weather satellite heads to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Booster Tuesday. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN
The GOES-U Weather satellite heads to orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy Booster Tuesday. Photo: Mark Stone/FMN

Only 10 minutes into Tuesday’s 2-hour launch window, a SpaceX Falcon heavy lifted off carrying the last of a series of new weather satellites to orbit. The GOES-U weather satellite launch was the last of a series designated GOES-R.

GOES-U Satellite Launch: Advancing the Future of Weather and Environmental Monitoring 

GOES-U Satellite Launch: Advancing the Future of Weather and Environmental Monitoring 

June 24, 2024Posted inNASA, Space News, SpaceX, Uncategorized
The countdown clock at KSC displaying the GOES-U satellite. Image by Richard P Gallagher
The countdown clock at KSC displaying the GOES-U satellite. Image by Richard P Gallagher

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is set to launch its latest geostationary weather satellite, GOES-U, on June 25, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission, the final installment in the GOES-R series, will dramatically advance weather observation and environmental monitoring technology. 

SpaceX Plans Starlink 10-2 Launch Sunday, Weather Likely To Interfere

SpaceX Plans Starlink 10-2 Launch Sunday, Weather Likely To Interfere

June 23, 2024Posted inSpace News, SpaceX
Starlink: A Falcon 9 rises in the distance behind a "ghost boat" on the Banana River. Photo: Charles Boyer FMN
A Falcon 9 rises in the distance behind a “ghost boat” on the Banana River. Photo: Charles Boyer FMN

SpaceX will attempt to finally launch Starlink 10-2 tomorrow, after a pair of weather-related scrubs and one abort-at-ignition last week. After the hard shutdown, the company has re-assigned a new booster for the launch and returned the one originally slated for the mission to Hangar X for closer inspection and repairs.