Launch Vehicles & Space Transportation News

Space.com

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NASA launched Cassini on a seven-year voyage to Saturn on Oct. 15, 1997

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a Titan 4B rocket on Oct. 15, 1997. The mission was designed to explore Saturn and its moons, beginning a journey that would take seven years to reach the planet.

Space.com

SpaceX launches classified Space Force payload as NearSpace books 2027 Bandwagon-6 ride

SpaceX launched a classified U.S. Space Force mission from California on Oct. 15, its 114th Falcon 9 flight of the year, and landed the booster on a droneship. Separately, NearSpace Launch plans to fly its TROOP-F6 spacecraft on SpaceX’s Bandwagon-6 rideshare mission in April 2027 for space-weather and space situational-awareness missions.

SpaceNews.com

China launches Zhuque-2E with eight orbital AI-computing satellites as recent missions expand Guowang and test laser links

China launched 10 satellites aboard a Zhuque-2E Y4 rocket, including eight intended to advance AI computing in orbit. The mission is part of a week of launches that also added to the Guowang constellation and tested orbital computing and laser links, according to the reports.

SpaceNews.com

Chinese launches boost Guowang constellation, add space computing sats

European Spaceflight

Arianespace Targets 23 Nov Ariane 6 Return Following Reported Turbopump Fix

Space.com

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SpaceX launches CRS-35, sending more than 6,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS

SpaceX’s CRS-35 mission, its 35th flight under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, sent a cargo Dragon toward the International Space Station. The spacecraft was due to rendezvous with the station on Oct. 15 after a two-day journey, carrying more than 6,000 pounds of cargo.

stateaviationjournal.com

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Oklahoma breaks ground on $7.5 million Dawn Aerospace mission control and spaceplane hangar

Oklahoma officials and Dawn Aerospace have broken ground on a mission control facility and spaceplane hangar at Infinity One Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat. The $7.5 million project is intended to support Dawn’s spaceplane operations and advance the state’s efforts to develop a commercial spaceflight hub.

Reuters

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Rocket Lab pushes Neutron’s first launch to 2027 over first-stage manufacturing issues

Rocket Lab has delayed the debut of its Neutron rocket again, targeting 2027 after identifying manufacturing problems with the first stage’s forward propellant dome and other carbon-composite components. CEO Peter Beck said the company would not accept a merely possible success as its standard for the vehicle’s first flight.