Spaceline News Archives

Falcon 9 Launches Badr-8 Satellite, Photo Courtesy SpaceX

Falcon 9 Launches Badr-8 Satellite For Arabsat

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the Badr-8 satellite for Arabsat at 12:30 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the fourteenth time, having previously supported the GPS III-SV04, GPS III-SV05, Inspiration4, Axiom-1, Nilesat-301, OneWeb-17 and seven Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral. Owned and operated by Arabsat, a Saudi Arabia-based consortium of Arab nations, and built by Airbus, the 10,000-pound Badr-8 satellite will provide communications services to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It will be deployed in a geostationary orbit about 22,000 miles above Earth at 26 degrees east longitude and has a design life of about 15 years.

Falcon 9 Axiom-2 Launch, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline

Falcon 9 Launches Axiom-2 Crew To Space Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched four astronauts on the Axiom-2 mission at 5:37 p.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the first time, and was successfully recovered with a landing at Landing Zone 1 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Crew Dragon spacecraft launched today, named Freedom, was being flown for the second time, having previously supported the Crew-4 mission. The four astronauts aboard include Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut and now Axiom Space employee. Whitson has logged more time in space than any other American. Paying passenger John Shoffner will act as pilot. Also onboard are Saudi astronauts Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. These will be the first Saudi astronauts to visit the International Space Station (ISS), with Barnawi becoming the first female Saudi astronaut. Docking with ISS is set for 9:24 a.m. EDT Monday, May 22. The crew will spend eight days aboard ISS and will be conducting over 20 science and technology experiments. The experiments will focus on human physiology, physical sciences and STEAM investigations in healthcare, materials, technology development and industrial advances. The mission is scheduled to end with a splashdown off the coast of Florida on May 30.

Axiom-2 Crew, Photo Courtesy SpaceX

Falcon 9 Starlink 6-3 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX

Falcon 9 Launches 22 Starlink V2-Mini Satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 22 Starlink V2-Mini satellites at 2:19 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the fifth time, having previously supported the CRS-26, OneWeb-16, Intelsat-40E and one Starlink mission. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 6-3, was the third launch of next-generation Starlink V2-Mini satellites, bringing to a total of 4,469 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.

Falcon 9 Starlink 6-3 Launch, Photo Courtesy SpaceX

Falcon 9 Starlink 5-9 Streak Shot, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline

Falcon 9 Launches 56 Starlink Satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 56 Starlink satellites at 1:03 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the eleventh time, having previously supported the CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat-5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Hotbird-13G, mPOWER-A and three Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "Just Read the Instructions" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 5-9, brings to a total of 4,447 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over 1.5 million subscribers.

Falcon 9 Starlink 5-6 Streak Shot, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline

Falcon 9 Launches 56 Starlink Satellites

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched 56 Starlink satellites at 3:31 a.m. EDT today from Launch Pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first stage booster employed today was being flown for the seventh time, having previously supported the CRS-24, Hotbird-13F, OneWeb-15, SES-18/19 and two Starlink missions. The booster was successfully recovered today with a landing on the "A Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship, positioned on the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral. The mission, designated Starlink 5-6, brings to a total of 4,340 Starlink satellites launched to date, although not all of these are operational or still in orbit. Starlink is a SpaceX-owned and operated constellation of broadband Internet satellites, intended to provide space-based Internet service to users worldwide. The service is currently available on all seven continents to over one million subscribers.

Falcon 9 Starlink 5-6 Downrange, Photo Courtesy Carleton Bailie/Spaceline