SpaceX’s Transporter-12 mission sends 131 smallsats soaring near California’s beach – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
The Transporter-12 mission was launched at 11:09 a.m. PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The rocket’s first stage booster did a traditional landing back at Vandenberg about 7.5 minutes after liftoff. It was SpaceX’s 397th landing of an orbital class rocket.
Varda’s W-2 spacecraft launched to orbit with SpaceX with Koonibba Test Range up next – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
Varda Space Industries has announced the successful launch of the company’s second orbital processing spacecraft and re-entry capsule, W-2. The W-2 capsule will orbit Earth for the next few weeks before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere and landing at the Koonibba Test Range in South Australia. This will be Australia’s first ever commercial spacecraft re-entry and marks an exciting new chapter in our nation’s spacefaring history.
FOSSA Systems launches their new generation of nanosatellites – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
FOSSA Systems has launched 17 nanosatellites since its founding. With this launch, the number rises to 20, and many more are planned for 2025. FOSSASats can remain on-orbit for 5 to 7 years, after which they will disintegrate without leaving space debris.
SpaceX to send Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the moon on Wednesday – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, January 15 for Falcon 9’s launch of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the Moon. Liftoff is targeted for 1:11 a.m. ET. A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.
SpaceX launches 21 Starlink smallsats including 13 Direct to Cell on Monday from Florida – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
Falcon 9 launched 21 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral. This was the 15th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Ax-2, Ax-3, CRS-30, SES 24, NG-21, Euclid.
High power laser beam focusing – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 00:00
On-axis parabolic mirrors allow a higher f-number to be achieved than off-axis designs. More laser energy can be concentrated on an experimental target with on-axis mirrors. Optical Surfaces Ltd’s heritage goes back over 50 years to the production of large astronomical telescope optics, larger than 1 metre in diameter.
SpaceX Transporter-12 launches more than 100 satellites
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-14 16:19
SpaceX launched the Transporter-12 rideshare mission from launch complex SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The launch vehicle’s booster returned to land at Vandenberg. This was the seventh Falcon mission of the year for SpaceX. The next SpaceX rideshares are Transporter-13 to SSO, Bandwagon-3 to mid-inclination, and a flight including NASA’s TRACERS spacecraft to SSO.
Launch Roundup: New Glenn and Starship headline a week dominated by SpaceX missions
Original Publication Date: 2025-01-13 23:20
SpaceX dominates this week’s launch manifest with three Falcon 9 missions. The three Falcon 9 missions will see the launches of a batch of Starlink satellites, a Transporter rideshare mission, and two Moon landers. Blue Origin’s New Glenn will now make another launch attempt early Thursday morning following the scrub of its maiden flight attempt on Monday.