Space

On a bright and sunny but very breezy morning, SpaceX launched another tranche of Starlink Mini V2 satellites to orbit today from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral. Launch was at 11:00 AM ET, and sixty-six minutes later at 12:06 PM ET, SpaceX declared the mission was a success when it announced a successful deployment of all 28 satellites included in the payload.

Falcon 9 and Starlink 10-21 rise as a fine sea mist hugs the wind-beaten surface of the Banana River today. Coupled with the inevitable heat-distortion of shooting through miles of distance between camera and pad, the photo takes on an almost Impressionist view.
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As Space Coast skies faded into night, United Launch Alliance launched their Vulcan-Centaur rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at 7:59 PM Eastern Time, carrying the classified USSF-106 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The evening launch, near the end of the one-hour window, was a successful return for the vehicle after its near-catastrophic solid rocket failure in its last launch in October, 2024.

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SpaceX, NASA and the Crew 11 astronauts beat the clouds and rain showers and launched before summer showers washed over Kennedy Space Center today, but just barely. With dark skies and rain rapidly advancing from the south, liftoff of SpaceX’s 18th crewed flight was at 11:43 AM ET from venerable Launch Complex 39A. Crew 11’s four astronauts are now on their way to the International Space Station after today’s launch, with an expected arrival time at the orbital outpost around 3 AM ET tomorrow, August 2.

Gravity Turn: After Max-Q and now in its supersonic flight phase, Falcon 9 enters another gear, leaving the contrail it just made behind quickly. The cloud is from the rocket, not the storms it was escaping on August 1, 2025.
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Axiom 4 lifts off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center
Axiom 4 lifts off from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center

After several delays, Axiom 4 is on its way to the International Space Station. The corporate mission, commanded by NASA veteran Peggy Whitson, lifted off at 2:31 AM Eastern Time from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon.

In addition to Whitson, Shubhanshu Shukla, an officer in the Indian Air Force and astronaut with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists include Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, a project astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) representing Poland, and Tibor Kapu from Hungary. Notably, this mission marks the first time astronauts from India, Poland, and Hungary will visit the ISS, representing each nation’s first government-sponsored human spaceflight in over 40 years.

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Under clear, hot skies this morning, United Launch Alliance launched one of their fifteen remaining Atlas V rockets carrying 27 satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper. Launch was at 6:54 AM from LC-41 at Cape Canaveral and by all appearances, it was a nominal flight for the veteran rocket. This was the 103rd launch for the venerable rocket. The first Atlas V launch was on August 21, 2002. 

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