SpaceX

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...

A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 551 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the Kuiper Atlas 2 (KA-02) mission launch. Image: Will Robinson-Smith/Spaceflight Now It’s round two for both United Launch Alliance and its customer, Amazon. Monday, June 16, will be ULA’s second Atlas 5 launch of the year and the second batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites launched to date. Liftoff for the 205-foot-tall (62.5 m) rocket is currently set for 1:25 p.m. EDT (1725 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This is the opening of a 30-minute launch window. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff. On Sunday, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast a 75 percent chance for fa...

SpaceX rolls its newest Crew Dragon spacecraft along with the rest of the Falcon 9 rocket stack out to the pad at Launch Complex 39 on June 7, 2025, ahead of the launch of Axiom Mission 4. Image: SpaceX The forthcoming private astronaut mission to the International Space Station managed by Axiom Space is not only its fourth such flight, but it also marks the swan song for a key part of the manufacturing side of SpaceX’s business. The mission, dubbed Axiom Mission 4 or Ax-4, features the debut of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, tail number C213. This has been billed by SpaceX as its fifth and final Dragon capsule. “This is the first flight for this Dragon capsule and I can’t think of a better way for this capsule to enter the fleet than by flying this international crew,” said William Gerstenma...