SpaceX launches 25 more Starlink satellites
SpaceX this morning successfully placed another 25 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage completed its 15th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
50 SpaceX
23 China
8 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
For the third straight year SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, 50 to 42.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
SpaceX this morning successfully placed another 25 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage completed its 15th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.
The leaders in the 2026 launch race:
50 SpaceX
23 China
8 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
For the third straight year SpaceX continues to lead the entire world combined in total launches, 50 to 42.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
One of the simple joys of a SpaceX launch is watching the increase in live, online viewers. Very often, 4-5 minutes before launch, thousands are viewing. Then, the viewer numbers increase dramatically. Today’s launch has 84,000. There was another Falcon 9 mission with over 100 satellites. That broadcast had over 140,000 viewers.
Falcon Heavy launches tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
SpaceX’s next launch is tomorrow (Monday) morning, and it’s a special one — a Falcon Heavy launch, at 10:21 AM EDT (14:21 UTC) — the beginning of an 85 minute launch window. The payload is ViaSat-3 F, a hulking 6,418 kg comsat headed for geostationary orbit.
Side booster recovery back at the Cape.
Hard to believe it’s been 18 months since we saw a Falcon Heavy.
Richard M,
Looking forward to that Viasat launch myself. The payload may be one of the last of a dying breed, but any excuse to launch a Falcon Heavy is a good one.
There could be as many as two more Falcon Heavy launches this year. The Roman Space Telescope is scheduled for Sept. and Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission 1 is at least penciled in for late 2026. Even if the last of these slips into 2027, two Falcon Heavies this year is two more than last year.
When it comes to big rockets, though, we are likely to see far more Starship and modestly more New Glenn launches this year than we will Falcon Heavies. At least one of those Starships will likely be the first to launch from LC-39A.
The General Motors of Outer Space – dominating its industry. Yet the left claims Musk is a failure. They should read ATLAS SHRUGGED