SpaceX

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A with the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite from the European Oganisation for the Exploration of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now A European satellite designed to augment both weather monitoring and assessments of air quality and pollution for Europe and North Africa took flight from Florida on Tuesday evening. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lofted the Meteosat Third Generation Sounder (MTG-S1) satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, setting the spacecraft up to operate in a geostationary Earth orbit, roughly 36,000 km (~22,369 mi) above the equator. The mission lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 5:04 p.m. EDT (2104 UTC) on Tuesday, July ...

Axiom Space’s fourth flight to the International Space Station got off to a sky-lighting start with blastoff from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Retired astronaut Peggy Whitson, America’s most experienced space flier, and three rookie crewmates from India, Poland and Hungary blasted off on a privately-financed flight to the International Space Station early Wednesday — the fourth non-government mission mounted by Houston-based Axiom Space. Strapped into a new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule making its maiden flight, Whitson, test pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India, European Space Agency astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of Poland, and Hungarian engineer Tibor Kapu roared away from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 2:31 a.m. EDT. Lighting...

United Launch Alliance launches its Atlas 5 rocket on June 23, 2025 with the second batch of 27 Project Kuiper satellites for Amazon towards low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update June 23, 7:23 a.m. EDT: ULA launched its Atlas 5 rocket. For a second time this year, United Launch Alliance launched an Atlas 5 rocket carrying 27 of Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This was just the second production batch that will make up a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites eventually. Monday was also the second attempt to launch this mission, dubbed Kuiper 2 by ULA, following a nitrogen purge issue connected to the rocket’s booster engine that caused a scrub on June 16 and for t...

A collection of 70 payloads manifested onto SpaceX’s Transporter-14 mission. Image: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing for its fourth launch of the year as part of its dedicated smallsat rideshare program, which is set to liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday. The mission, dubbed Transporter-14, will send 70 customer payloads into a Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East is anticipated at at 2:18 p.m. PDT (5:18, p.m. EDT, 2118 UTC). Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about 30 minutes prior to liftoff.  In its announcement of this mission, SpaceX noted that it would be “keeping an eye on weather” as the planned launch approaches. SpaceX will use the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B107...

Starship Ship 36 explodes at SpaceX’s Massey test flight on June 18, 2025. Image: LabPadre Space. SpaceX’s next Starship vehicle was destroyed in a catastrophic explosion shortly after 11 p.m. CT (0400 UTC) Wednesday as it was being readied for a static fire test at the company’s Massey facility, near Starbase, Texas. The bullet-shaped, stainless-steel Ship 36 was ripped apart in a giant fireball as liquid methane and liquid oxygen were being loaded for an expected test firing of the vehicle’s six Raptor rocket engines. It was unclear how much damage was inflicted to the test stand and other facilities at the Massey site. “The Starship preparing for the tenth flight test experienced a major anomaly while on a test stand at Starbase,” SpaceX said in a social media post. “A safety clear area...