Starship Heavy lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas to start the IFT-6 mission. Photo: Richard Gallagher, FMN
SpaceX, never a company to shy away from daunting challenges, said yesterday that it plans to launch its Starship Heavy megarocket from Florida late this year, pending the completion of environmental reviews. Previously, it had been believed that Starship would come in 2026 or even later, due to several factors: permitting, needed construction and incomplete infrastructure needed to launch the 397 foot tall rocket.
The reviews are just one of several obstacles SpaceX will need to overcome in order to actually fly Starship from Florida this year. They will also need to complete the Starship tower that has been at LC-39A for a few years, albeit in a partially finished state. Secondly SpaceX will need to construct propellant infrastructure in or near LC-39A to fuel Starship, and finally, if the company intends to land both the first stage of Starship and the Ship (second stage itself) they will need a second tower for one or the other to settle on after its mission.
Starship tower under construction at LC-39A in 2022 Photo: Charles Boyer / ToT
On top of that, SpaceX will need to have a mission-capable Starship ready before the end of the year, unless they are planning to conduct test flights from the Space Coast as well as their headquarters in Texas. At this point in time, it appears that is some months away at a minimum as the company conducts test flights of the new rocket system.
All that said, it is a tall order to complete all of those items in 2025, especially at an active launch pad that is the only one that can currently support Falcon Heavy launches. On the other hand, if there is a company that can execute a demanding project plan quickly, it is SpaceX.
Déjà vu all over again: SpaceX launched another 21 Starlink satellites from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this evening. Liftoff was at 9:24 PM EST, with Falcon 9 taking the southeasterly familiar path towards The Bahamas as has been the case with all other Starlink Group 20 launches.
The first stage booster returned to Earth and landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean ~250 nautical miles off the coast of Florida. Following the successful landing, an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster’s landing legs which resulted in it tipping over. While disappointing to lose a rocket after a successful mission, the team will use the data to make Falcon even more reliable on ascent and landing
Déjà vu all over again: SpaceX launched another 21 Starlink satellites from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this evening. Liftoff was at 9:24 PM EST, with Falcon 9 taking the southeasterly familiar path towards The Bahamas as has been the case with all other Starlink Group 20 launches.
Booster B1086 was on duty for its fifth mission this evening, which is completed successfully when it touched down aboard ASDS ‘Just Read The Instructions’ about 8.25 minutes after launching. Unfortunately, according to SpaceX, the booster was “lost” after “an off-nominal fire in the aft end of the rocket damaged one of the booster’s landing legs which resulted in it tipping over.”
Tonight’s landing was the 419th booster landing and the 112th landing on JRTI.
Twenty-five odd seconds after the booster landed, Falcon 9’s second stage achieved its initial orbit, and at T+ 00:53:58, the second stage refired its Merlin Vacuum engine in a brief orbit-rounding burn prior to payload deployment.
At 10:29 PM EST, SpaceX announced a successful payload deployment, marking the completion of another successful mission for the company, save for the loss of a relatively new booster.
Payload
Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s initiative to create a global broadband internet network. Some key facts:
Design: Starlink satellites are flat-panel devices equipped with multiple high-throughput antennas and solar panels. The design allows them to be launched in bulk.
Orbit: They operate in low Earth orbit (LEO) at altitudes ranging from approximately 340 km to 1,200 km. This lowers latency compared to traditional satellites in geostationary orbit.
Constellation: SpaceX has deployed thousands of satellite to date, creating a constellation that can provide extensive coverage and capacity across the globe.
Communication: They use advanced phased-array technology for beam forming, allowing for high-speed data transmission to ground stations and user terminals.
Overall, Starlink provides high-speed, low-latency internet access, especially in rural and underserved areas to nearly five million customers in over 200 countries.
Starlink serves over five million customers in over 100 countries worldwide. The service currently has more than 7,000 Starlink satellites in orbit.
Launch Replay
Next Launch
SpaceX’s Starlink 12-21 is planned to launch early Wednesday morning.
Organization: SpaceX
Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket: Falcon 9
Pad: Space Launch Complex 40
Status: To Be Confirmed
Status Info: Awaiting official confirmation – current date is known with some certainty.
Window Opens: Wednesday, 03/05/2025 1:00:00 AM
Window Closes: Wednesday, 03/05/2025 5:31:00 AM
Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description: A batch of satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
The spacecraft successfully established initial communications with mission operators at Caltech’s IPAC in Pasadena, California, at 8:13 PM EST, but telemetry data soon revealed intermittent power problems with Lunar Trailblazer.
Fueled and attached to an adaptor used for secondary payloads, NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer is seen at SpaceX’s payload processing facility within NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The small satellite is riding along on Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 launch. Credit: SpaceX
By early Thursday morning, around 4:30 AM EST, the team lost contact with the satellite. However, several hours later, Lunar Trailblazer’s transmitter powered back on, and engineers are now working with NASA ground stations to restore full communication. Efforts are focused on assessing the spacecraft’s power issues and identifying potential solutions.
Lunar Trailblazer was developed as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program, which funds low-cost, high-risk science missions. The initiative allows small spacecraft to hitch a ride alongside larger primary missions, enabling innovative research while accepting a higher level of operational risk.
NASA’S Trailblazer, launching aboard the SpaceX IM-2 mission on February 26, 2025 Photo: Chris Leymarie / Florida Media Now
Weighing a mere 440 pounds and measuring 11.5 feet wide with its solar panels fully deployed, Lunar Trailblazer is about the size of a dishwasher and relies on a relatively small propulsion system to travel cislunar space to lunar orbit. It is employing a low-energy transfer to save weight and to simplify the propulsion system aboard the spacecraft.
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying Intuitive Machines second lunar lander, IM-2 Athena, on February 26, 2025. Liftoff was at 7:16 PM EST from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center.
SpaceX is planning to launch Falcon 9 and the Starlink 12-13 mission tomorrow evening from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff is set for 11:26 PM but may change due to weather or SpaceX operational requirements.
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 12-13
Organization: SpaceX
Location: Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket: Falcon 9
Pad: Space Launch Complex 40
Status: Go for Launch
Status Info: Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Window Opens: Monday, 02/24/2025 11:26:00 PM
Window Closes: Tuesday, 02/25/2025 3:06:00 AM
Destination: Low Earth Orbit
Mission Description: A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation – SpaceX’s project for space-based Internet communication system.
This launch had been scheduled for this evening, but was shifted a day by SpaceX sometime Sunday morning.
Trajectory
Down the Bimini Highway: southeast to The Bahamas.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 has released their L-1 Launch Mission Execution Forecast: 60% GO improving to 20% GO through the launch window.
Online Viewing
SpaceX will have a livestream of the launch on their website: Starlink 12-13. This will also be available on the X platform. Coverage starts about fifteen minutes before liftoff.
Spaceflight Now will have coverage of the launch starting about one hour before liftoff on Youtube: link
For official updates regarding launch times, SpaceX.com is the best source of information. Starlink launch times change from time to time, and the company generally updates their website within minutes of the decision to change the launch time. This is very handy if none of the streaming options on YouTube have started their broadcasts.
Remember that there is a delay between a launch stream and the actual countdown clock. That is simply because of physics: it takes time for the signal to travel from the launch site, through the Internet, and back down to your phone, resulting in a five to fifteen-second delay.
Athena completed all integration milestones and is safely encapsulated within SpaceX’s payload fairing in preparation for launch. Photo: SpaceX
Intuitive Machines announced today that its IM-2 mission’s Nova-C class lunar lander, Athena, has successfully completed all integration milestones and is now securely enclosed within SpaceX’s payload fairing, ready for launch. This will be the company’s second attempt to land on the lunar surface.
According to iSpace yesterday, “RESILIENCE is now on a trajectory out to deep space before completing orbital maneuvers that will bring it back towards the Moon in advance of lunar orbit insertion, expected around early May.”
Falcon 9, carrying the iSpace RESILIENCE lander along with Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander, launching in January 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
RESLIENCE reached its closest point to the lunar surface thus far at 5:43 PM EST (2243 UTC) on Valenitine’s Day, coming within roughly 8,400 kilometers surface on its flyby, a historic first of its type for a Japanese private, commercial lunar lander. It now heads past the moon towards apoapsis and a return to cislunar space and lunar orbit. After that point, preparations for landing can begin.
The flyby was the fifth of ten major milestones for the spacecraft as it prepares to touch down on the lunar surface sometime in May or June of this year. The lengthy time between launch and landing is due to mission designers planning for a longer, energy-efficient trajectory to reach the lunar surface, one that reduced spacecraft complexity by eliminating the need to carry a much larger propulsive unit.
via iSpace
This will be the second landing attempt for iSpace. In April 2023, the first Hakuto lander successfully traveled from Earth and made a landing attempt, however, it crash-landed after its propellant was exhausted due to the spacecraft’s software misjudging the actual altitude of the spacecraft. After improvements and remediations, iSpace is hopeful for a successful landing in late Spring of this year.
Hakuto-R / RESILIENCE Mission Is Primarily A Technology Demonstration
iSpace’s mission with RESILIENCE in mainly one for technology performance and validation, demonstration commercial viability, and international collaboration and coordination. Undoubtedly, the iSpace team will learn a great deal more about real-world operation of their lander in Mission 2, and that in turn will inform future missions to come.
One of the primary goals — if not the major goal — of the RESILIENCE mission is to demonstrate lunar landing capabilities. Secondly, iSpace hope to demonstrate landing with a high level of precision. The company has refined its autonomous landing system with lessons-learned from Mission 1. Their system leverages AI and real-time terrain recognition as part of a safe touchdown on the surface. Perfecting this technology is crucial for future robotic and crewed missions.
Artist’s rendering of Hakuto-R RESILIENCE on the lunar surface. Courtesy iSpace.
Testing of Lunar Surface Mobility and Resource Utilization
RESILIENCE plans to deploy small rovers and payloads to test surface mobility and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies. By analyzing the Moon’s regolith and extracting potential resources such as water ice, iSpace hopes to contribute to future lunar sustainability. ISRU is a key aspect of NASA’s Artemis program and other international lunar initiatives, as it could enable long-term human presence on the Moon.
Lunar Data Collection
By gathering environmental and geological data, the RESILIENCE probe will help improve scientific understanding of the Moon’s surface conditions. The mission will assess factors such as temperature variations, radiation levels, and dust behavior—all critical information for designing next-generation lunar habitats and infrastructure.
Supporting Commercial Lunar Activity
iSpace is focused on building a lunar economy, and RESILIENCE will serve as a proof-of-concept for future commercial deliveries to the Moon.
iSpace also plans to become a key player in the emerging lunar industry through collaborations with global space agencies and companies. The company is hopeful that the success of RESILIENCE could pave the way for future joint ventures and technological exchanges in lunar exploration.
Booster B1067 lifts off on September 18, 2024 with Galileo FM26 and FM32 for ESA Photo: Derek Newsome
Tomorrow morning, SpaceX plans to launch Starlink 12-8 to low-Earth orbit. The flight has one remarkable aspect: the flight will be the 26th for the company’s Booster B1067. Liftoff is planned for no earlier than 01:14:10 AM EST from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral. Around eight minutes after liftoff, B1067 is planned to land on ASDS ‘A Shortfall Of Gravitas’, which is stationed offshore close to The Bahamas.
The All-Time Champion Of Booster Reusability
B1067 has played a significant role in advancing reusable rocket technology since its inaugural flight in June 2021. Like other boosters in the Falcon 9 Block 5 series, B1067 was engineered for rapid turnaround and multiple reuses, aligning with SpaceX’s goal of reducing the costs associated with space exploration.
B1067’s maiden voyage occurred on June 3, 2021, during the CRS-22 mission, which delivered supplies to the International Space Station (ISS). Following this successful debut, the booster supported several key missions, including:
SpaceX Booster B1067 prior to its 22nd flight in September 2024. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
Crew-3 (November 11, 2021): Transported astronauts to the ISS.
Türksat 5B (December 19, 2021): Deployed a Turkish communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit.
Crew-4 (April 27, 2022): Facilitated another crewed mission to the ISS.
CRS-25 (July 15, 2022): Conducted a resupply mission to the ISS.
Galileo FM26 / FM32: launched two navigation satellites for the European Space Agency
In addition to these missions, B1067 has flown numerous batches of Starlink satellites, contributing to SpaceX’s expanding satellite internet constellation, which now boosts about five million subscribers in over 200 countries worldwide.
In January 10, 2025, B1067 completed its 25th flight during the Starlink 12-12 mission, setting a new benchmark for booster reusability. Tonight, 37 days after that flight, B1067 is slated to break its own record.
Payload
21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities. SpaceX has around 7,000 Starlink satellites in orbit already, with plans to have up to 42,000 at some point in the future.
Starlink satellites are space debris neutral, meaning after their operational life is concluded, the company de-orbits a given satellite, with almost no portions reaching the ground.
Weather
The 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45 of the US Space Force has issued a Launch Mission Execution forecast: 80% GO through the launch window. Their only concerns are clouds and winds.
Via the 45th Weather Squadron of Space Launch Delta 45. Retrieved 14 February 2025 at 0800 ET
Trajectory
As it has been with previous Group 12 Starlink launches, Falcon 9 will fly southeast from Cape Canaveral.
Online Viewing
SpaceX’s live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff. You can view that on the X platform (@SpaceX).
Spaceflight Now will begin their webcast about an hour prior to liftoff. They are an invaluable resource for anyone planning to watch the launch in person, as they will offer the latest information on the countdown as it proceeds.
Booster B1067 lifts of carrying the Satria payload on June 18, 2023. Photo: Derek Newsome
NASA and SpaceX have moved up the launch of Crew 10 to the International Space Station to no earlier than March 12, 2025. The date is dependent on crew and spacecraft’s mission readiness and completion of the agency’s certification of flight readiness process. Following several days of handoff, Crew 9 astronauts will depart ISS and return to Earth.
he official portrait of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-10 members with (from left) Mission Specialist Kirill Peskov of Roscosmos; Pilot Nichole Ayers and Commander Anne McClain, both NASA astronauts; and Mission Specialist Takuya Onishi from JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Photo credit: NASA/Bill Stafford/Helen Arase Vargas
NASA has announced an earlier launch opportunity for the Crew-10 mission following a decision to modify its original plan. Instead of using a new Dragon spacecraft—which requires additional processing time—the mission will now fly with Endurance, a previously flown Dragon capsule.
Teams are currently conducting thorough assessments of Endurance’s hardware to ensure it meets NASA’s Commercial Crew Program safety and certification requirements. Preparations are underway to refurbish the spacecraft, including installing its trunk, loading propellant, and transporting it to SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, it will be integrated with the Falcon 9 rocket ahead of launch.
Crew 9 astronauts prior to liftoff. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
This marks Endurance’s fourth mission to the International Space Station, having previously supported Crew-3, Crew-5, and Crew-7.
Once Crew-10 arrives at the ISS, they will undergo a handover period with the Crew-9 team, who will guide them through ongoing scientific research and station maintenance tasks. This transition ensures a smooth exchange of responsibilities and enhances safety aboard the orbiting laboratory.
Following the completion of the handover, NASA and SpaceX will begin preparations for the return of Crew-9 to Earth. NASA astronaut Nick Hague, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will depart the ISS aboard Crew Dragon.
They will be joined by the former Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. The pair joined Expedition 71/72 after NASA decided to return the Starliner capsule uncrewed after several problems with that spacecraft.
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