SpaceX

A SpaceX rocket ascends from Space Launch Complex 40 on the Starlink 12-20 mission on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Image: Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket of the month and its first Starlink flight since reportedly reaching 5 million subscribers for the satellite internet service on Sunday night. Liftoff of the Starlink 12-20 mission from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 9:24 p.m. EST (0224 UTC on March 3). This was SpaceX’s 26th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year.  SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1086, to launch the mission. It flew for a fifth time after launching as a side booster on the Falcon Heavy GOES-U mission and then as a Falcon 9 booster for the third pair of Maxar’s WorldView Legion satellites and two Starli...

Firefly Aerospace’s team in its mission operations center celebrates the successful touchdown of its first Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Image: Firefly Aerospace via livestream Hugs, high-fives and cheers were shared in Firefly Aerospace’s mission control room in the predawn hours on Sunday. Down the road, dozens more engineers alongside their family and friends did likewise at a watch party. For the second time since the end of the Apollo era, an American-built lander had a soft touchdown on the Moon’s surface. The spacecraft, dubbed Blue Ghost, set down on the surface of a region called Mare Crisium, located on the northeastern part of the Earth-facing side of the Moon. The final landing sequence took a little more than hour to complete with no overt anoma...

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, is prepared for encapsulation inside SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Beneath the lander are rideshare payloads from Epic Aerospace (front), AstroForge (right), and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (behind). Image: SpaceX via Intuitive Machines Two spacecraft that launched as rideshare payloads on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission are dealing with post-deployment challenges that might put the missions in jeopardy. The Lunar Trailblazer, a Moon-bound spacecraft managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Odin, a spacecraft from AstroForge aiming for an asteroid flyby, have both encountered communication issues that are being troubleshooted. Odin, a 120 kg (265 lb) satellite, was the first of the three rideshare payloads that deployed fro...

Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander, named Athena, is prepared for encapsulation inside SpaceX Falcon 9 payload fairings. Beneath the lander are rideshare payloads from Epic Aerospace (front), AstroForge (right), and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (behind). Image: SpaceX via Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines is preparing to head back to the Moon following its first trip a year ago. The company based in Houston, Texas, will send another of its Nova-C class vehicles to attempt a landing no earlier than March 6 and begin a 10-Earth day-long mission. The mission begins with a launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 26 at 7:16 p.m. EST (0016 UTC). This is the fourth mission to launch as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program. It’s ...

File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Starlink 7-14 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX Update 9:08 p.m. EST (0208 UTC): SpaceX landed the booster on the droneship. SpaceX launched the first of two planned Starlink flights over the weekend. Up first was the launch of the Starlink 15-1 mission on Saturday, which carried with it 22 Starlink V2 Mini satellites. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 5:38 p.m. PST (8:38 p.m. EST, 0138 UTC).  SpaceX used the Falcon 9 first stage booster with the tail number B1082 on this mission, which launched for an 11th time. It previously launched USSF-62, OneWeb Launch 20 and eight batches of Starlink satellites. A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1...