accumulating a lot of experience … Booster 1076 entered the SpaceX fleet in 2021 and has since launched missions including CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, CRS-25, Eutelsat Hotbird 13G, SES O3B mPower-A, PSN Satria, Telkomsat Merah Putih 2, Galileo L13, Koreasat-6A Crew-6, and Have done. USSF-124, as well as 22 batches of Starlink satellites. (Submitted by EllPeaTea)
Atlas V launches heaviest payload. United Launch Alliance launched its latest Atlas 5 rocket, carrying a batch of 29 Amazon LEO satellites into low-Earth orbit as early as April 4, Spaceflight Now reports. According to ULA, this mission was the largest and heaviest payload carried into orbit by an Atlas 5 rocket to date.
Upper stage performance is important …The four previous Amazon LEO missions that launched on Atlas 5 rockets each carried 27 satellites. According to ULA, ULA and Amazon were able to increase the LEO payload stack to 29 “as a result of extensive engineering work between ULA and Amazon.” Amazon cited ULA’s use of the RL10C-1-1 engine on the rocket’s upper stage as a major reason why they were able to add two more satellites to the mission.
SLS rocket successfully delivers Artemis II crew to orbit. On April 1, a Space Launch System rocket spectacularly launched the Orion spacecraft into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Ars reports. A few minutes after liftoff, as Artemis II headed east over the Atlantic Ocean, the astronauts got their first glimpse of the full moon through their forward windows. “We have a beautiful moonrise,” Artemis II commander Reed Wiseman said. “We are moving in the right direction.”
two for two …The SLS rocket has now launched twice, both successfully. In the days that followed, NASA engineers said the rocket had placed Orion into its proper orbit with more than 99 percent accuracy, even better than the Artemis I mission in late 2022. The mobile launch tower was being prepared to return to the Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida for minor repairs and in preparation for the stacking of the SLS rocket for the Artemis III mission. The program is preparing to support a launch in 2027.
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