Launches

Super Heavy Booster 7 blasting off with Starship 24 atop (Image courtesy SpaceX)

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SpaceX conducted the flight test of its prototype Super Heavy rocket and Starship, launched from Boca Chica, Texas. This is the first test that saw the whole system of Elon Musk’s company which should revolutionize space travel with an unprecedented transport capacity and being totally reusable. In this case, however, these are prototypes with the Super Heavy identified as Booster 7 and Starship identified as Starship 24 or Ship24 or simply S24 which don’t have the safety requirements needed to conduct controlled landings. The test ended after almost 4 minutes with the explosion of both vehicles.

The JUICE space probe blasting off atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket (Image courtesy Arianespace)

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A little while ago, ESA’s JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) space probe was launched atop an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from the Kourou base in French Guiana. After about 27 minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and began the long journey that will take it to Jupiter orbit, where it will conduct its scientific mission, focused on the largest planet in the solar system’s so-called icy moons: Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto.

The Dragon 2 spacecraft' blasts off atop a Falcon 9 rocket to start its CRS-27 mission (Photo courtesy SpaceX)

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A few hours ago, the SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its CRS-27 (Cargo Resupply Service 27) mission, also referred to as SPX-27. After almost exactly 12 minutes it separated successfully from the rocket’s last stage and went en route. This is the 27th mission for the Dragon/Dragon 2 spacecraft to resupply the International Space Station with various cargoes and then return to Earth, again with various cargoes.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blastin off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Photo NASA/Frank Michaux)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in its Crew-6 or SpaceX Crew-6 mission. After almost exactly twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the 6th crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft within the normal rotation of the International Space Station crew. This is also the fourth mission for the Endeavour.

The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft blasting off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A few hours ago, the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft blasted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. After about nine minutes it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and was placed on its route, which requires about two days of journey. It replaces the damaged Soyuz MS-22 as a vehicle for the return of its three crew members: Dmitri Petelin, Frank Rubio, and Sergey Prokopyev. This is the solution chosen by the Russian Roscosmos space agency after having established the impossibility of using the Soyuz MS-22 for the return journey with a crew on board in safety conditions.