Latest news with #SpaceFlightNow
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX Rocket Launch Illuminates Florida Skies
A Falcon 9 rocket launch illuminated Florida skies on April 21, as SpaceX completed its third mission in less than 48 hours, SpaceFlightNow said. Footage recorded by Miguel Souza from Cottondale shows Bandwagon-3 mission en route to Landing Zone 2 from the Cape Canaveral Force Station. This followed Bandwagon-1 from Kennedy Space Center and Bandwagon-2 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceFlightNow reported that Bandwagon-3 touched down about eight minutes after liftoff. Credit: Miguel Souza via Storyful
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX Having Trouble Getting Starship Launched Again After Explosion
SpaceX was forced to call off the eighth flight test of its mammoth Starship spacecraft just minutes before the rocket was supposed to launch from the company's facility in Boca Chica, Texas. On Monday evening, several unspecified issues related to the 403-foot rocket's Super Heavy booster were flagged by engineers, according to SpaceFlightNow, less than a half hour before its scheduled 5:45 launch time. After placing a temporary hold, SpaceX decided to scrub the launch entirely. SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk exhorted caution, but was light on details about what went wrong. "Too many question marks about this flight and then we were 20 bar low on ground spin start pressure," Musk said. "Best to destack, inspect both stages and try again in a day or two." On Wednesday morning, SpaceX said it aims to attempt another launch as soon as Thursday. The day before, it briefly claimed that Wednesday would be the new launch date, though these quickly shifting timelines aren't uncommon in the world of spaceflight. The eighth flight test, whenever it happens, will be the first since Starship's upper stage spectacularly exploded midair over the Caribbean in January. The incident sent streaks of fiery debris careening through the sky, forcing air traffic controllers to divert flights in the area. Some debris even landed on nearby islands, angering residents. A subsequent investigation determined that violent oscillations caused a propellant leak in the Starship's "attic" — or the gap between the rocket's rear heat shield and its liquid oxygen tank. The resulting buildup sparked a flurry of fires that took out almost all the rocket's engines, triggering the ship's onboard self-destruct system minutes later. It wasn't entirely disastrous. Following a smooth separation from the ill-fated upper stage, the Starship's Super Heavy booster executed a boostback burn, a maneuver in which the rocket reverses course after separating. During the maneuver, all but one of its 13 engines successfully reignited, and shortly afterwards, the booster guided itself back towards its launch pad, where it was caught midair by the tower's "chopstick" arms. For the upcoming flight test, SpaceX is more or less re-attempting the last one, with several tweaks. One major change is adding more ventilation to the Starship's attic to prevent another fire. There have also been modifications to the Starship's fuel line and adjustments to the engine's thrust levels and the temperatures of the propellant. Along with another trial of relighting its engines in orbit, SpaceX will test a system to deploy four expendable dummy Starlink satellites from the vehicle's upper stage at a suborbital altitude — if it survives long enough, that is. More on SpaceX: It Looks an Awful Lot Like Elon Musk Is Awarding a Huge Government Contract to Himself
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX launch lights up Arizona skies. Here's how you can see the next launch
Arizonans were treated to a special show on Monday night as a SpaceX launch in California lit up the sky over metro Phoenix. Elon Musk's company SpaceX launched the rocket carrying 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, the company posted on its website. This is not the first time one of the company's launches have been visible in Arizona. In the past, the launches from Vandenburg Air Force Base have caught residents' attention and caused an uproar on social media. Here's what to know about the SpaceX launch, including its connection to Starlink and when the next launch will be. Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, more widely known as SpaceX, is an astronautics company owned and co-founded by multimillionaire Elon Musk. The company manufactures spacecraft and launches communication satellites to space intending to deliver broadband internet services. More: Biggest astronomical events 2025: Everything you can see in Arizona According to the SpaceX website, Falcon 9 is the first orbital-class reusable rocket. The two-stage rocket transports people and payloads — the portion of the spacecraft that produces mission data and then relays it back to Earth —into space and back. Falcon 9's reusability allows SpaceX to "refly the most expensive parts of the rocket". According to the website, this will allow space access to become more affordable. Starlink is a satellite constellation that uses a low Earth orbit to function. According to the SpaceX website, Starlink is the first and largest satellite constellation to travel in a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet across the globe. While most satellite internet services operate from single geostationary satellites orbiting Earth at about 22,236 miles, Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that orbit the planet at about 341 miles. The low orbit nature of Starlink's satellites lowers latency and data time between user and the satellite, which improves the performance of high data rate activities like streaming, online gaming and video calls. Starlink also aims to eliminate cell service dead zones through its Direct to Cell program. Like a cell tower in space, Direct to Cell will allow access to texting, calling, and browsing in traditionally remote areas. SpaceX does not have information about the next California launch listed on its website. However, a launch may happen at the end of February, depending on weather conditions, according to Space Flight Now, which keeps a log of planned space launches. More: When is the full moon in February 2025? How to see the Snow Moon in AZ This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: SpaceX launch visible in Arizona: How to see the next launch
