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SpaceX is now targeting launch of the GovSat-1 satellite to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Wednesday, January 31, at 4:25 p.m. EST, or 21:25 UTC. The satellite will deploy approximately 32 minutes after launch.

The announcement came three days after the rocket completed a static-fire test at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, a final test milestone before the launch itself. Musk said the test was “good” shortly after the test, but neither he nor the company provided additional details. ... In his comments after the static-fire test, Musk said the launch would take place “in a week or so.” A Feb. 6 launch, though, would give SpaceX time to prepare after its next Falcon 9 mission, of the GovSat-1 communications satellite, scheduled for Jan. 30 from nearby Space Launch Complex 40....

Update for 7 p.m. ET: European spaceflight provider Arianespace has apparently lost contact with the Ariane 5 rocket that was carrying two commercial satellites and a NASA science instrument into orbit.  Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel delivered a statement regarding the anomaly via the launch webcast (video above). That statement is as follows: "Ladies and gentlemen, I come to give you some information because we have had an anomaly on this launch. Indeed, we lost contact with the launcher a few seconds after ignition of the upper stage. At that time, we can consider that the upper composite and the satellite as...

Many people awaited last Sunday’s Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral of a highly classified US payload. The launch had been delayed for weeks, speculation as to the satellite’s purpose was rampant, and successfully delivering national security satellites to orbit is an important part of SpaceX’s business. The launch, however, remains shrouded in mystery.Shortly after the launch, Bloomberg reported that the satellite was lost, due to US Strategic Command saying they were not tracking any objects. The Wall Street Journal suggested that Congress was being briefed on a failure, and that it was due to a failure of the satellite...

An independent safety panel recommended NASA not certify SpaceX's commercial crew system until the agency better understands the behavior of pressure vessels linked to a Falcon 9 failure in 2016. That recommendation was one of the stronger items in the annual report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) released by NASA Jan. 11, which found that NASA was generally managing risk well on its various programs. The report devoted a section to the composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPVs) used to store helium in the second stage propellant tanks of the Falcon 9. The investigation into the September 2016 pad explosion that destroyed...

Interesting details on the X37B also.

An expensive, highly classified U.S. spy satellite is presumed to be a total loss after it failed to reach orbit atop a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. rocket on Sunday, according to industry and government officials. Lawmakers and congressional staffers from the Senate and the House have been briefed about the botched mission, some of the officials said. The secret payload—code-named Zuma and launched from Florida on board a Falcon 9 rocket—is believed to have plummeted back into the atmosphere, they said, because it didn’t separate as planned from the upper part of the rocket. Once the engine powering the rocket’s...

Last night at 8:00 p.m. EST, SpaceX conducted its first launch of the year, carrying a classified spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. government code-named "Zuma." Now reports are circulating that the Zuma spacecraft might have been lost following the launch. Peter B. de Selding, a spaceflight reporter for Space Intel Report, first tweeted that sources suggested to him that the satellite "may be dead in orbit after separation." ...Popular Mechanics has reached out to both SpaceX and Northrop Grumman for comment about the fate of the satellite. Northrop did not immediately reply, but a SpaceX spokesperson issued...

Today, operations in space are more routine and the competition between states is more diffuse. While generally still important in international politics, prestige plays only a small role in the current international dynamic. To be clear: There is still competition between the U.S. and rising powers. However, unlike the Cold War, which was a battle of opposing political philosophies, here we see competition primarily over economic and strategic opportunity. Another significant difference between the Cold War space race and the current one is that the playing field isn’t level as it was during the Cold War. The U.S. today has...

Relativity Space, a Los Angeles orbital launch startup, has just released a short video showing its innovative Aeon 1 3D printed rocket engine in action. The impressive piece of equipment consists of just three 3D printed parts and is capable of reaching full thrust force in milliseconds. We’ve known for awhile that Relativity Space was working on some pretty cool stuff. This past October, for instance, the company announced the development of the Stargate 3D printer, which it says it the largest metal 3D printing system in the world. The machine, which consists of multiple laser-equipped Kuka robotic arms and...

SpaceX plans to launch the secret Zuma payload for the U.S. government this evening (Jan. 7), after a nearly two-month delay. Zuma is scheduled to lift off atop a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station tonight between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. EST (0100 to 0300 GMT on Jan. 8). You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of the company. You can also watch the liftoff directly from SpaceX's live webcast page here.  Sunday's launch will also include a landing attempt by the Falcon 9's first stage, which will come back down to Earth...

Musk means that if the launch fails, the Falcon Heavy, currently standing at the Florida launch pad where Apollo astronauts began the first journey to the moon, could end up in a massive explosion over the Atlantic Ocean.  "There's a lot of risk associated with Falcon Heavy," Musk said at a conference in 2017. "Real good chance that the vehicle doesn't make it to orbit."   On the other hand, if the launch is successful, we'll see Musk launch his own cherry-red Tesla Roadster toward Mars followed by another spectacular first: SpaceX will attempt to simultaneously land and recover all...

SPACEX are to launch a top-secret satellite codenamed project Zuma this Friday, the US Air Force confirmed. The mysterious project will see the private space agency launch the satellite allowing an unnamed government organisation to send messages or take photos. One of the few scraps of information currently available has revealed Zuma will enter into a low orbit around Earth. What the orbiter's mission is and who will be operating it is unknown with US authorities so far refusing the release any more information. The satellite will be launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in...

In the stew of false information and conspiracy theories that swirls online, perhaps no idea is as flummoxing as the belief in a flat Earth. Flat-Earthers believe that the Earth is a flat disc ringed by an ice wall. All those elegant models of a round Earth that perfectly explain seasons, eclipses, sunrises and sunsets? Lies and cover-ups, they say. Pictures of the round Earth from space? Government conspiracies. The fact that you can see ships disappearing hull-first over the curve of the horizon with your own eyes? Well, flat-Earthers claim to see something different. It's been a big publicity...

SpaceX is getting ready for its first ever test flight of the Falcon Heavy, its heavy-duty rocket aimed at propelling large cargo loads into low Earth orbit. The rocket uses three Falcon 9 boosters combined for maximum load capacity when leaving Earth's atmosphere, and it's looking to do its first test launch within the next few weeks from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The rocket made its way to the Cape Canaveral launch facility late in 2017, but now it's actually vertical on the launchpad, undergoing its long preflight test check list before the actual attempt is made. SpaceX celebrated...

It's time to gaze into our crystal ball and see what the coming year has in store for science. From powerful new rockets and asteroid-sampling spacecraft to groundbreaking particle physics, there's plenty to look forward to in 2018. Aeronautics and space exploration A new tool to find exoplanets In March 2018, NASA will launch its Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) - a mission to find previously undiscovered exoplanets from the vantage point of low Earth orbit. The space-based telescope is expected to discover thousands of exoplanets over the next several years as it measures the luminosity of more than 200,000...

An evaluation of military space launch services revealed lapses in quality control that could compromise the schedule and performance of future missions, the Defense Department inspector general reported last week. The IG specifically called out the main contractors that support the evolved expendable launch vehicle program, or EELV, for failing to comply with standards required by AS9100 — a widely adopted quality management system for the aviation and space industries. Prime contractors United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX, and ULA subcontractor Aerojet Rocketdyne "did not perform adequate quality assurance management of the EELV program," said the Dec. 20 report signed by Randolph...

NASA is launching a new lander to Mars, as well as a spacecraft that will get closer to the Sun than ever before. And two of NASA’s vehicles already in space will finally arrive at their intended targets... But it’s not just NASA that has a busy year ahead; the commercial space industry has a number of significant test flights planned, and the launch of one of the world’s most anticipated rockets, the Falcon Heavy, is slated for early 2018. And if all goes well, people may finally ride to space on private vehicles. Here are all the missions and...

As the United States aims to reclaim its position as a leader in space exploration, it’s important to keep our space program grounded in fiscal reality. Last week, President Trump directed NASA to get astronauts back to the moon, with the goal of eventually sending Americans on a mission to Mars. It’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of potential new technological achievements and forget the very real costs that are associated with them—costs that are incurred regardless of whether such programs are successful or not. It’s a particular worry with NASA, an agency that has a history...

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket, made up of two previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters and a beefed up central core stage, made the trip to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was raised vertical Thursday for testing ahead of its first liftoff next month. The fully-assembled 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will be the most powerful in the world when it blasts off, and Thursday’s arrival atop pad 39A marks a major step toward readying the Falcon Heavy for flight. SpaceX engineers are expected to conduct a fit check and complete other tests at pad 39A this week,...