Made On Earth, Found In Space

07/20/2024

A Long March 6A launched on 7/4 at 649pm ET from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center for the Tianhui 5 Group 02 mission.

Tianhui 5 Group 02 is a pair of Earth survey satellites placed into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

The Long March 6A is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 50 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 5000kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO) with the help of four strap-on kerolox boosters.

There was no official webcast for this launch.

07/12/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (9/11) at 1035pm ET from SLC-4E in Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Starlink Group 9-3 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 20 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6729; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1063, is making its 19th flight. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Of Course I Still Love You. Fairings will be recovered from the Pacific ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast on their Twitter account

07/09/2024

An ESA Arianespace Ariane 62 is making its debut launch today(7/9) at 2pm ET from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana for its Demo Flight mission.

Ariane 6s demo flight will be carrying several small satellites to deploy as well as non deployable experiments. Small sats onboard include GRBBeta, SpaceCase SC-X01, ISTSAT-1, 3Cat4, OOV-Cube, CuriumOne, Nyx Bikini, Robusta-3A, Replicator, and CURIE A & B.

No deployable experiments include PariSat, Perigrinus, LIFI, SIDLOC, and YPSat.

The Ariane 62 is a two stage hydrolox rocket standing 62 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 10350kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO) with the help of two strap-on solid rocket boosters. This is the first of the long awaited Ariane 5 replacement and the end of a dry spell for European orbital launch capabilities(Vegas have been plagued with issues and the delay between Ariane 5 & 6 has been longer than expected).

There will be a live webcast for this mission at

Ariane 6 will power Europe into space. The first flight for Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket will demonstrate its capabilities and prove its worth. In additio...

07/08/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch this afternoon(7/8) during a four hour window starting at 521pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Turksat 6A mission.

Turksat 6A is a geostationary communication satellite built domestically in Turkey for service in that area. The 4250kg satellite will serve civil and military communication needs.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to low Earth orbit (LEO), but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1076, is launching for its 15th time. The booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions, after stage seperation. Fairings will also be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

07/02/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch early tomorrow (7/3) morning at 257am ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 8-9 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 20 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6709; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1073, is making its 16th flight. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, A Shortfall Of Gravitas. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

07/02/2024

A Firefly Alpha rocket is targeting launch tonight(early tomorrow morning) 7/3 at 1203am ET from SLC-2W in Vandenberg Space Force Station for the Noise of Summer mission.

Noise of Summer(also known as FLTA005) is a rideshare mission of small satellites for NASAs ELaNa 43 cubesat launch initiative. The mission has eight cubesats onboard including SOC-i, TechEdSat-11, Serenity, R5-S4, R5-S2 2.0, CatSat, KubeSat 1, and MESAT 1. The satellites will be deployed into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

The Firefly Alpha is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 29 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 1030kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO).

There will be a live webcast for this launch at https://www.youtube.com/live/D7pzJ129XPM?si=8CXJiPXjHso1CQTa

07/02/2024

A Japanese MHI H3-22S rocket launched on 6/30 at 1106pm ET from Tanegashima Space Center for the ALOS-4 mission.

ALOS-4(Advanced Land Observing Satellite) is an Earth observation satellite using an improved phased array type L-band SAR(compared to ALOS-2), improving resolution and swath size. This 2990kg satellite was placed into a Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO).

The H3-22S is a two stage hydrolox rocket standing 63 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 4000kg to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) with the help of four solid fueled strap-on boosters. The H3-22S designation means it's using two first stage engines(2), two SRBs(2), and a short payload fairing(S).

There's a video of the launch at https://www.youtube.com/live/rrUP9faAq3M?si=vp-FXSuxXxCMbwlQ

07/02/2024

A Chinese Long March 7A rocket launched on 6/29 at 757am ET from Wenchang Space Launch Site for the ChinaSat 3A mission.

ChinaSat 3A is a geostationary communication satellite placed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) where it will make its own way into geostationary orbit.

The Long March 7A is a three stage kerolox rocket standing 58 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 12000kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO) with the help of four strap-on kerolox boosters.

There was no official webcast for this launch.

06/28/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (6/28) at 1114pm ET from SLC-4E in Vandenberg Space Force Base for the NROL-186 mission.

NROL-186 is a top secret launch of a reconnaissance constellation of low Earth orbit(LEO) satellites built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The constellation is supposed to have imaging as well as other reconnaissance capabilities.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this mission, B1081, is making its 8th flight. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Of Course I Still Love You. Fairings will be recovered from the Pacific ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/28/2024

A Chinese Long March 2C launched on 6/22 at 3am ET from Xichang Satellite Launch Center for the SVOM mission.

SVOM(Space Variable Objects Monitor) is a French(CNES) and Chinese(CNSA) collaboration to build a small x-ray spaxe telescope to study star explosions by studying the gamma ray bursts associated with them. This 930kg satellite was placed into LEO and will expand the Swift satellites capabilities.

The Long March 2C is a two stage hypergolic rocket standing 42 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 2850kg to LEO.

There was no official webcast for this launch.

06/28/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on 6/23 at 1147pm ET from SLC-4E in Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Starlink Group 9-2 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). These 20 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6666; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited. 13 of these 20 Starlinks will also support direct to cell capabilities.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The booster used for this mission, B1075, flew for it's 11th mission before propulsively landing on the autonomous drone landing ship, Of Course I Still Love You. Fairings we're recovered from the Pacific ocean for reuse.

SpaceX had a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/27/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch this morning (6/27) at 714am ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 10-3 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 23 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6689; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage booster for this mission, B1062, is making its 22nd flight, making it the life leader of the Falcon booster fleet. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this mission on their Twitter account

06/26/2024

Brand new Falcon booster heading to the pace coast, caught it in the FL panhandle/Big Bend area heading east.

06/26/2024

NOAA with some help from NASA got their last weather satellite in orbit today for their GOES-R constellation. This satellite, GOES-U, built by Lockheed Martin and launches by SpaceX on a Falcon Heavy, will provide weather data from our planet as well as solar weather.

06/25/2024

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is targeting launch today (6/25) at 516pm ET from LC39A in Kennedy Space Center for the GOES-U mission.

GOES-U is the last of the current generation of NOAA/NASA weather satellites being launched for its constellation. These Lockheed Martin built satellites weigh 5000kg and will provide advanced imagery and atmospheric data. It will also map lightning and observe space weather.

The Falcon Heavy is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 63800kg to a low Earth orbit(LEO), but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land some or all of it's first stage boosters. The first stage boosters(B1087, B1086, and B1072) for this mission are all new. After stage separation, the side boosters will return to Cape Canaveral to land at LZ1 and LZ2. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

NASA TV will have a live webcast starting at 415pm ET.

06/20/2024

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket is targeting launch today (6/20) at 213pm ET from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand for the No Time Toulouse mission.

No Time Toulouse is a mission to carry five small IoT satellites for Kineis(Kineis 1-5). Kineis is a French company to provide IoT services with a constellation of twenty-five, 30kg satellites. The company is backed by public and private investors, including CNES and CLS.

The Electron is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 18 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 320kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO). The Electron first stage has been recovered in the past after parachuting into the ocean, but no recovery is planned for this launch.

This will be Electrons 50th launch and Rocket Lab will have a live webcast at

06/19/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (6/18) at 1140pm ET from SLC-4E in Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Starlink Group 9-1 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 20 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6646; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited. 13 of this batch are also set-up for direct to cell service.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The booster being used for this mission, B1082, is flying for its 5th time. After stage seperation, the booster will land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Of Course I Still Love You. Fairings will be recovered from the Pacific ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/18/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (6/18) at 535pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Astra-1P mission.

Astra-1P, also known as SES-24, is a geostationary communication satellite to service an area around Germany, France, and Spain with TV broadcasting. This Thales Alenia built Spacebus NEO satellite will be placed into a geotransfer orbit(GTO) where it will use it's own electric propulsion to make it's way to a geostationary orbit.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO), but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this mission, B1080, is making its 9th flight. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/12/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch today (6/12) at 9pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 10-2 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 22 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6626; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1073, is launching for its 16th time. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions. Fairings will also be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/10/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on 6/8 858am ET from SLC-4E in Vandenberg Space Force Base for the Starlink Group 8-8 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 20 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6604; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage used for this mission, B1061, flew for it's 21st time. The booster propulsively landed on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions. Fairings were also recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX had a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/07/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (6/7) at 8pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 10-1 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 22 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6584; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The booster being used for this launch, B1069, is launching for its 16th time. After stage separation, B1069 will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, A Shortfall Of Gravitas. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/07/2024

A Galactic Energy Ceres 1 launched on 6/6 at 1am ET from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for the Love On Top mission.

Love On Top is a mission carrying three small sats to a sun synchronous orbit (SSO). They included TEE-01B, Naxing-3A and 3B.

The Ceres 1 is a four stage solid fueled rocket standing 19 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 400kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO).

There was no official webcast for this launch.

06/06/2024

A SpaceX Starship rocket is targeting launch this morning (6/6) at 850am ET from Starbase in Boca Chica, TX for the Flight 4 mission.

Flight 4 is another test flight of the rocket, with a primary goal of the upper stage surviving atmospheric re-entry. They would also like the first stage to make a controlled mock landing in the Gulf. There is no payload and the trajectory is just short of orbital.

Starship is a two stage methalox rocket standing 121 meters tall. This development vehicle will eventually be fully reusable and capable of lifting as much as 150000kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO). The current launch vehicle does not have the lift capability and it's reusability is still being proven out. Eventually, the first stage would land back at the launch tower and the second stage would also land in a manner that allows for rapid reusability. There will be variants of Starship for satellite deployment, crew transportation, refueling and depot missions, and lunar landing.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this test flight on their Twitter account.

06/05/2024

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket with Curie upper stage launched last night (6/4) at 1115pm ET from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand for the PREFIRE and Ice mission.

PREFIRE(Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) is a NASA mission to study how much heat is absorbed and emitted from the Earth's poles. The mission requires two cubesats, which will be launched on two rockets, this being the second. The data from these satellites will help scientists make more accurate climate and ice models. The first launched on 5/25.

The Electron is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 18 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 320kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO) and will use a Curie kick stage for final orbital deployment.

Rocket Lab will have a live web stream for this launch at

06/05/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on 6/4 at 1016pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 8-5 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 20 V2 Mini Starlinks are capable of satellite to smart phone direct Internet service(it's minimal) and being the total number launched to 6562; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1067, is making ita 20th flight. After stage seperation, the booster will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, Just Read The Instructions. Fairings will also be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse. The rocket had a north east trajectory, which hasn't been used for Starlink in quite a while.

SpaceX had a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.

06/04/2024

A Galactic Energy Ceres 1 launched on 5/30 at 739pm ET from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for the Heroes mission.

Heroes is a rideshare mission carrying five satellites to a sun synchronous orbit(SSO). The satellites include Jiguang 01 & 02, a pair of technology demonstration satellites with laser interlinks; Yunyao-1 14, 25, and 26, which are GNSS occultation weather satellites.

The Ceres 1 is a four stage solid fueled rocket standing 19 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 400kg to low Earth orbit (LEO).

There was no official webcast for this launch

06/04/2024

A Chinese Long March 3B launched on 5/30 at 812am ET from Xichang Satellite Launch Center for the PakSat MM1(R) mission.

PakSat MM1(R) is a Chinese built geostationary communication satellite for the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). This 5400kg satellite was deployed into a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO), where it will make its way to GEO under its own propulsion.

The Long March 3B is a three stage hypergolic rocket standing 56 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 11500kg to low Earth orbit (LEO) with the help of four strap-on hypergolic boosters.

There was a live webcast for this launch at https://www.youtube.com/live/h5kESK9SZKc?si=_kOnwX2gh1MdYRwk

06/04/2024

A Russian Soyuz 2.1a with an uncrewed Progress cargo spacecraft launched on 5/30 at 542am ET from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for the Progress MS-27 mission.

Progress MS-27, also known as Progress 88 (P88), is an uncrewed cargo mission to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft was loaded with about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies. It docked to the Poisk modules space facing docking port on Saturday(6/1).

The Soyuz 2.1a is a three stage kerolox rocket standing 51 meter tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 7500kg to a low Earth orbit (LEO) with the help of four strap-on kerolox boosters.

ROSCOSMOS and NASA TV both had live webcasts of this launch,

30 мая наблюдаем за запуском грузовика «Прогресс МС-27». В 12:43 мск с космодрома Байконур взлетит ракета «Союз-2.1а» с грузовым кораблём. Он доставит на орб...

06/03/2024

A Galactic Energy Ceres 1S launched on 5/29 at 412am ET from the Oriental Spaceport Launch Ship 1 in China coastal water, for the Beautiful World mission.

Beautiful World was a mission to launch four small sats for an IoT constellation into a low Earth orbit (LEO). Tianqi 25-28 were launched successfully.

The Ceres 1S is a four staged solid fueled rocket standing 19 meters tall. This expendable launch vehicle can lift as much as 400kg to LEO, and is optimized for maritime launches from a barge.

There was no official webcast for this launch.

05/31/2024

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is targeting launch tonight (5/31) at 747pm ET from SLC-40 in Cape Canaveral SFS for the Starlink Group 6-64 mission.

Starlink is SpaceXs constellation of high speed broadband internet satellites being placed into a low Earth orbit (LEO). This batch of 23 V2 Mini Starlinks will bring the total number launched to 6542; including prototypes, earlier versions, and satellites that have since de-orbited.

The Falcon 9 rocket is a two stage kerolox rocket standing 70 meters tall. This partially reusable launch vehicle can lift as much as 22800kg to LEO, but typically gives up some performance to propulsively land it's first stage booster for reuse. The first stage being used for this launch, B1076, is flying for its 14th time. After stage seperation, it will propulsively land on the autonomous drone landing ship, A Shortfall Of Gravitas. Fairings will be recovered from the Atlantic ocean for reuse.

SpaceX will have a live webcast for this launch on their Twitter account.