Latest news with #SpaceX
Yahoo
15 minutes ago
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX launches rocket on Starlink mission after storms, lightning depart East-Central Florida
Hours after meteorologists issued severe thunderstorm warnings and special weather statements across Central Florida, SpaceX crews launched a Falcon 9 rocket under fair skies with 10-mile visibility Saturday, June 28, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:26 a.m. from Launch Complex 40, carrying 27 Starlink broadband satellites into low-Earth orbit. The post-midnight mission marked the Falcon 9 first-stage booster's fifth flight, SpaceX reported. The booster previously launched CRS-32, NROL-69, GPS III-7 and a Starlink mission. Following stage separation, the booster landed atop the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral NASA's Kennedy Space Center had issued its last Phase I lightning watch — giving personnel a 30-minute lead-time warning — at 7:01 p.m. Friday, nearly 5½ hours before liftoff. That lightning watch was terminated at 8:22 p.m. The launch occurred on the 10-year anniversary of a SpaceX rocket explosion following liftoff from Florida's Space Coast. On June 28, 2015, a Falcon 9 that launched from then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station broke apart during a NASA resupply mission to the International Space Station. That rocket mishap occurred 2 minutes, 19 seconds after liftoff. The Falcon 9 was carrying a SpaceX Dragon capsule packed with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies. On Thursday, Space Launch Delta 45 announced Col. Brian Chatman is now installation commander and director of the Eastern Range at Patrick Space Force Base and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Chatman most recently served as deputy director of the Space Systems Engineering Directorate for the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration. "As the SLD 45 commander, he runs the world's busiest spaceport and is responsible for delivering infrastructure, operations, and support for all Eastern Range launch and test missions," a Space Force press release said. "As Director of the Eastern Range, he is responsible for the safety of launch and test operations across a 15-million-square-mile area," the press release said. For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter. Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launches rocket with Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexico threatens to sue Musk's SpaceX over contamination from exploding rockets
A small Texas town just across the border from Mexico is the testing ground for Starship, the hulking spacecraft that Elon Musk hopes will one day ferry people to Mars. In recent months, multiple test launches have ended in explosions, causing debris to rain down on both countries and in the Gulf of Mexico. Mexican scientists say the wreckage is killing wildlife, including dolphins, sea turtles and fish. Amid growing pressure from her constituents, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that her government is investigating the "security and environmental" effects of Musk's rockets and has found that "there is indeed contamination," a charge Musk's company denies. Sheinbaum said her government is trying to determine whether SpaceX has violated international laws and said Mexico will file 'necessary lawsuits." Read more: 'The United States is the villain of our story.' Nationalism surges in Mexico amid Trump threats Her statements come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Mexico on security, migration and the economy. President Trump's tariffs on Mexican imports and threats of U.S. drone strikes on cartel targets have sparked a surge of nationalism here. Musk, a billionaire who is also the CEO of Tesla and the owner of X, is closely allied with the U.S. administration, having donated more than a quarter-billion dollars to help elect Trump. For several months this year he was the informal head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency. SpaceX said in a post on X that independent tests performed on the material used in Starships confirm that it "does not present any chemical, biological or toxicological risks." The company said it attempts to recover all debris from exploded devices. U.S. groups have also blamed SpaceX rockets for environmental degradation. The company's Starbase launch facility in South Texas abuts the Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge, an expanse of tidal flats, mangroves and sand dunes that is home to rare and endangered species including ocelots, sea turtles and northern aplomado falcons. A coalition including the Sierra Club and a local Native American tribe sued the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging the agencies approved test launches without conducting thorough environmental reviews. They say failed rocket launches have spread concrete and metal debris across thousands of feet of surrounding lands — and once set off a fire that burned several acres of protected dunes. In Mexico, environmentalists began raising alarms earlier this year after space debris was discovered in the border city of Matamoros, in the Río Bravo — as Mexico calls the Rio Grande — and in the Gulf of Mexico. A local nonprofit in the state of Tamaulipas issued a report documenting animal deaths in a region known as a nesting ground for manatees, sharks, whales and other animals. It warned particularly about risks to sea turtles who ingest particles of space debris. The group said it had collected more than a ton of debris scattered along an area more than 25 miles long. The governor of Tamaulipas said authorities were also looking into the issue. Gov. Américo Villarreal Anaya said his government will verify whether 'the internationally required distances are being respected in order to have these types of facilities so that there is no risk to urban centers.' Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX set for overnight rocket launch from Florida's Space Coast
SpaceX crews are preparing to launch another Falcon 9 rocket from Florida's Space Coast. SpaceX plans to launch 27 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch is scheduled for 12:26 a.m. Saturday from Space Launch Complex 40, with backup opportunities extending until 4:26 a.m. If necessary, additional launch windows are available on Sunday, June 29, at 12:04 a.m. This mission marks the fifth flight for the Falcon 9 first-stage booster, which has previously supported missions including CRS-32, NROL-69, GPS III-7, and a prior Starlink mission. After the launch, SpaceX plans to launch the booster again on its droneship 'A Shortfall of Gravitas,' stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. Channel 9 will monitor the planned launch and provide updates on Eyewitness News. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket creates nebula-like ring in night sky
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. During the early hours of June 25, 2025, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off into space, headed for the International Space Station. The launch was part of the private Axiom-4 space mission carrying four astronauts on SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft. The Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket that often carries cargo, Starlink satellites, or crew members in its corresponding Dragon spacecraft. Its reusable system aligns with SpaceX's mission to make spaceflight less costly, and thus more accessible. When the rocket's first stage booster returns to Earth for launch site landings, the stage's boost back burn can sometimes create these plumes of exhaust high in the atmosphere. The Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is currently headed for the International Space Station. The Ax-4 launch is a mission of "firsts," as it carried the first ever-people from India, Hungary and Poland into space, including pilot Shubhanshu Shukla and mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski and Tibor Kapu. Leading the team is former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, currently Axiom's director of human spaceflight. Ax-4 was not easy to get off the ground, however. The mission faced two weeks of delays since its original launch date of June 11, 2025. These delays were caused by high winds as well as leaks on both the launch vehicle and the ISS. But finally, on the morning of June 25, 2025, the Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched, ferrying the crew toward the ISS. Once there, the astronauts will spend two weeks in orbit and conduct over 60 experiments before returning back to Earth. You can read more about the Ax-4 mission and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as the private spaceflight sector continues to expand into our night skies.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
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Mexico Threatens SpaceX Lawsuit After Texas Explosion
Mexico's president is threatening a lawsuit against American innovation — again. This time, it's Elon Musk's SpaceX that's in the crosshairs, after a recent rocket explosion at the company's Starbase launch site near Boca Chica, Texas. The site, located just miles from the southern border shared with Mexico, has become a symbol of both cutting-edge space technology and international friction. During a press conference on Wednesday, President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that her administration is reviewing alleged 'contamination' from debris that crossed into Mexico during a test failure last week, per The Guardian. The explosion, which occurred during a routine ground test of the Starship system — as previously covered by The Dallas Express — sent a fireball into the sky, a spectacle that has become a fairly routine part of developing powerful next-generation rockets. 'Just a scratch,' Musk posted to X after the explosion. Sheinbaum claims that the fallout violates international law and says her government is preparing 'the necessary lawsuits' to hold SpaceX accountable. However, U.S. officials, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) — have already reviewed environmental concerns surrounding the program. As recently as May, the FAA approved an increase in annual launches from five to 25, saying that the launch activity would not pose significant environmental threats, including to wildlife along the Gulf Coast. The rhetoric from Mexico's president appears to be following a familiar pattern. In May, Sheinbaum's government said it was suing Google over labeling in its Maps application, after the tech company allegedly renamed the 'Gulf of Mexico' the 'Gulf of America' for some users. SpaceX, which employs thousands in South Texas and draws global attention to the Lone Star State's emerging role in space exploration, has not commented publicly on the potential lawsuit as of time of publication. Still, Texans watching this latest dispute may see it as yet another example of foreign leaders targeting American companies for political leverage. For now, SpaceX continues to push forward with development — even if the 'path to Mars' Musk dreams of seems to draw critics from outsiders, or legal heat from Mexico's leaders. As previously reported by DX, earlier this week a multinational team of four private astronauts successfully reached the International Space Station, completing a landmark mission by Houston-based Axiom Space in collaboration with SpaceX. Launched Wednesday aboard SpaceX's new Dragon capsule nicknamed 'Grace' from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, the crew docked with the ISS after a 28-hour journey. SpaceX confirmed the docking in a video post, celebrating the mission's smooth arrival.
