SpaceX

An artist’s rendering of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites in low Earth orbit. Graphic: AST SpaceMobile A company aiming to bring cell service to unmodified smartphones using a satellite network announced Thursday it had secured its ability to reach low Earth orbit. During a third quarter earnings call, AST SpaceMobile (NASDAQ: ASTS) revealed new launch agreements with Blue Origin, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and SpaceX. Abel Avellan, Founder, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, said during the call that the missions would take place over the course of 2025 and 2026. “AST SpaceMobile has secured launch capacity to ultimately deliver continuous space-based cellular broadband service coverage in key markets, including the United States, Europe, Japan, U.S. government a...

SpaceX fueled its fully integrated Starship rocket at its Starbase facilities on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in preparation for the Flight 6 suborbital test mission. Image: SpaceX After launching three Falcon 9 rockets in less than 20 hours, SpaceX is preparing to use its fourth and final active launchpad in the United States to launch its massive Starship rocket. The mission, dubbed Flight 6, is set to be the fourth time SpaceX launches the nearly 400-foot-tall vehicle in 2024 and the sixth test flight of the fully integrated rocket in program history. Liftoff of the suborbital flight from Pad 1 at Starbase at Boca Chica Beach, Texas, is set for 4 p.m. CST (5 p.m. EST, 2200 UTC). Spaceflight Now will begin joint live coverage alongside LabPadre beginning about 1.5 hours before launch.  The mi...

Ship 31 and Super Heavy Booster 13 climb away from Starbase on the sixth test flight of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle. Image: Chuck Briggs/Spaceflight Now. With President-elect Donald Trump and newly-minted efficiency czar Elon Musk looking on, SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket on its sixth test flight Tuesday, an up-and-down trip to space by a gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship to evaluate a variety of safety and performance upgrades. Shattering the afternoon calm with an ear-splitting roar, the huge 30-foot-wide, 397-foot-tall rocket blasted off from Musk’s sprawling Boca Chica, Texas, manufacturing and test facility on the Gulf Coast near Brownsville at 5 p.m. EST, the opening of a 30-minute launch window. With its 33 Raptor engines gulping 40,000 pounds of liquid oxygen and met...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) on the GSAT-N2 / GSAT-20 mission on Nov. 18, 2024. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched its third Falcon 9 rocket in less than 24 hours, bringing all three of its launch pads into play.  Capping off this trio was its second customer mission, this time launching a communications satellite for NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a government-run company and the commercial arm for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). This was the first time SpaceX launched a payload for India. The Geosynchronous SATellite N2 (GSAT-N2) is NSIL’s second so-called Demand-driven satellite. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 UTC), the opening ...

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center carrying the Optus-X communications satellite. Image: Spaceflight Now Update 3:56 p.m. EST: SpaceX updated the launch time of the mission. Update 4:08 p.m. EST: SpaceX pushed back the launch time of the mission. Update 6:04 p.m. ESt: SpaceX landed its first stage booster on the droneship, following liftoff of the mission. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at sunset with a payload that has been shrouded in secrecy to the point of not disclosing any specifics of the mission, and not using its original name. All regulatory filings and U.S. government agencies, like the Space Force and the Federal Aviation Administration, call the payload ‘Optus-X,’ while SpaceX calls the mission ‘TD7.’ SpaceX’s commentat...