According to several Japanese reports, JAXA is preparing for the next H3 launch NET June 10th! This would be H3-F6, which is the test flight of the -30S configuration. This will be the return to flight after the H3-F8 failure, which was caused by a defect in the payload adapter.
WHAAAT
Today's launch will be THE LAST FOR JRTI. It will be dedicated to transporting Starship hardware in the future.
SpaceX has been responsible for launching all but one of the 10 satellites, with SV02 being launched on the final Delta IV Medium. Vulcan was also planned to launch several GPS III satellites, but those have all been moved to Falcon 9 due to delays.
After being delayed from today, SpaceX is counting down again to the launch of the GPS III SV10 satellite. Named after inventor Hedy Lamarr, SV10 is the last in the Block III series. Block III will be succeeded by Block IIIF, which will start launching next year on Vulcan.
DEORBIT - Space Force just issued a decay notice for BlueBird 7, saying it reentered on Apr 20 (with no further details)
A second orbit dataset from SpaceForce for the BlueBird-7 sat shows it in a 265 x 485 km x 43.0 deg orbit, indicating that the upper stage delivered about 1000 m/s, mostly changing orbital inclination. This is about half the dV that would have been needed for the target orbit
After rolling out yesterday, the LA-06 payload has been stacked atop Atlas V. Launch is officially scheduled for NET April 28th at 00:52 UTC. This will make for an exciting 24 hours, with Falcon Heavy set to launch ~10.5 hours earlier, and Ariane 64 with LE-02 ~8 hours later.
The scheduled launch date for ViaSat-3 F3 is confirmed for April 27, 2026, during an 85-minute launch window opening at 10:21 a.m. EDT (subject to change)! 🚀🛰️
Our satellite will be launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida: https://vsat.co/4e3NqN3
The first Falcon Heavy in 1.5 years has its launchdate! Scheduled for NET April 27th at 14:21 UTC, this will be the ViaSat-3 F3 mission. Side booster B1072-2 and B1075-21 will return to LZ-40 and LZ-2 for landing, while the Center Core (serial number unknown) will be expended.
Yeah it's really impressive. ULA really making the best of quite a bad situation. If they continue on this pace we could see LA-08 fly by Mid-June.
Since LVOS, ULA has also mated all 5 SRB's and stacked the Centaur Upper Stage atop the Atlas V rocket for the Amazon Leo LA-06 mission. The payload fairing was also spotted being moved to SLC-41 today, which is a great sign launch is on track for NET April 27th.
AST SpaceMobile has many more satellites in the pipeline. The next batch of 3 is expected to ship within 30 days. They'll likely launch on a Falcon 9. Starting with BlueBird 8, the satellites are a new, lighter, and stackable configuration, allowing multi-satellite launches.
AST SpaceMobile says that unfortunately BlueBird 7's orbit is too low to raise and sustain operations, which means that the orbit will decay and the satellite will reenter. Hopefully Blue Origin will be able to find the root cause and recover from this setback quickly.
AST SpaceMobile Addresses Today’s Orbital Launch of BlueBird 7 on the New Glenn Launch Vehicle
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
If this is indeed the orbit that BlueBird 7 was deployed into, which would be the case if GS2 failed to ignite, it likely won't be able to overcome the atmosphere with its ion thrusters. If GS2 has produced some thrust, it might have gotten enough of a kick to a high enough orbit.
The BlueOrigin/AST_SpaceMobile
launch has been tracked by Space Force as catalog 68765, 2026-85A, in a 154 x 494 km x 36.1 deg orbit. Epoch is 1138 UTC which is the time of SECO-1, so this may not be the final orbit. (If it is, then they are indeed toast).
Uh oh, that's not good... The BlueBird 7 satellite was deployed but into an off-nominal orbit. Given that GS2 was supposed to perform a second burn before deploying the satellite, it likely failed to do so.
Really good to see GS1-7E02 back on Jacklyn again. Blue Origin needed this. With GS1-7E03 almost ready for its debut on NG-4, having 2 boosters in the fleet will hopefully allow Blue Origin to get a consistent cadence going where they can alternate between their boosters.
LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOO the exhaust gasses
According to a notice from Avinor, a Norwegian state-owned company which owns and operates many airports in Norway, the next launch attempt for Spectrum's "Onward And Upward" mission is NET May 14th, with the same 20:00 to 21:00 UTC daily window.
AFAIK it's not an acronym
Katalyst's LINK spacecraft for the Swift Rescue Mission has arrived at NASA Goddard for environmental testing! LINK will attempt to rendezvous with NASA's Swift Observatory and raise its orbit. Launch aboard Northrop Grumman's Pegasus rocket is scheduled for as early as June 1st.
AST SpaceMobile Announces BlueBird 7 Launch Date of Sunday, April 19, Invites Retail Investors to Attend Live Launch Event at Cape Canaveral
www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...
NASA has approved to start implementing their support in ESA's Rosalind Franklin mission! NASA will provide the propulsion system for the lander, RTG's, and portions of a scientific instrument. They've also selected SpaceX' Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the mission in Late-2028!
HOTFIRE! 🔥
New Glenn booster GS1-7E02 "Never Tell Me The Odds" fires up ahead of reflight on the NG-3 mission!
📸 nsf.live/spacecoast
After standing down yesterday, the flare stack at Launch Complex 36 is active and propellant load is underway for the next hotfire attempt in preparation of the NG-3 mission. Launch is now NET April 19th at 10:45 UTC.
📸 nsf.live/spacecoast
Rocket Lab is almost ready for their next launches! These include the "Kakushin Rising" mission carrying 8 cubesats for JAXA, which is set for Apr. 23 @ 03:09 UTC, as well as a sub-orbital HASTE launch from LC-2! Codenamed "Bubbles", that launch is set for Apr. 22 @ 00:00 UTC.
Electron is ready to rise again for JAXA. Our second dedicated mission for JAXA is scheduled to fly from Launch Complex 1 no earlier than April 23.
"Kakushin Rising" liftoff is set for:
🚀 3:09 pm NZT / 03:09 UTC, April 23
🚀 12:09 pm JST, April 23
🚀 11:09 pm EDT / 8:00 pm PDT, April 22
Blue Origin confirmed they completed a Wet Dress Rehearsal today, and that they are targeting tomorrow for the hotfire. I don't believe however that this order was originally planned, as new hazard area's indicate that launch has slipped by 1 day to NET April 18th at 10:45 UTC.