Spaceflight Now

1 week ago | spaceflightnow.com | Will Robinson-Smith

Northrop Grumman is preparing for its first flight of a Minotaur rocket from California in nearly 14 years. The four-stage Minotaur 4 rocket will launch the NROL-174 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 8 (SLC-8) is targeted for 12:33 p.m. PDT (3:33 p.m. EDT, 1933 UTC). The NRO gave no indication prior to launch that it would facilitate a livestream of the mission’s countdown or liftoff.

1 week ago | spaceflightnow.com | Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX is preparing to set a new rocket reuse record with its planned Sunday Starlink flight. Falcon booster, tail number 1067, will launch for a record-setting 27th time, further cementing its position as the flight leader among SpaceX’s fleet. It will support the launch of 27 Starlink V2 Mini satellites heading into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station is targeting 10:34 p.m. EDT (0234 UTC).

1 week ago | spaceflightnow.com | Will Robinson-Smith

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is preparing to launch its ninth mission supporting its so-called proliferated architecture satellite constellation using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The mission, dubbed NROL-192, also marks a big milestone for SpaceX. It will be the 400th launch of a previously flown Falcon booster. It is the third such launch so far in 2025.

1 week ago | spaceflightnow.com | Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX is preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with its latest batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit about an hour and a half after midnight on Friday. The Starlink 12-17 mission is targeting liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at 1:24 a.m. (0524 UTC). This will be the 28th launch featuring the company’s internet satellites so far in 2025. Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour before liftoff.

2 weeks ago | spaceflightnow.com | Will Robinson-Smith

United Launch Alliance is preparing to launch the first of dozens of missions on behalf of its largest commercial customer, Amazon. Its Atlas 5 551 rocket will carry 27 Project Kuiper satellites onboard. The mission, referred to as Kuiper 1 by ULA and Kuiper Atlas 1 (KA-01) by Amazon, will send the first batch of its full production satellites into low Earth orbit.