Month: December 2022

Last Launched and Landed SpaceX Falcon 9 Booster of 2022 Returns to Port Canaveral New Year’s Eve: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM PORT CANAVERAL, FL – New Year’s Eve rocket revelers celebrated early as the last launched and landed SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster of 2022 from Cape Canaveral returned triumphantly to Port Canaveral at noonish, Saturday, Dec 31, New Year’s Eve – just over three days after the stunning dead of night liftoff Wednesday, Dec. 28.

Stunning Nighttime SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Last Starlink Internet Satellites of 2022 from Cape Canaveral: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM TITUSVILLE, FL – SpaceX successfully launched its last batch of Starlink broadband internet satellites of 2022 from Cape Canaveral to orbit into mostly clear overnight Sunshine State skies on a southeasterly trajectory, in the dead of night Wednesday, Dec. 28. This liftoff on the Starlink 5-1 mission also counts as the first tranche of Starlinks propelled to

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Record Breaking 15th Time on Starlink Mission: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM SPACE VIEW PARK/TITUSVILLE, FL – SpaceX successfully launched its fleet leading Falcon 9 for a record breaking 15th time Saturday afternoon, Dec. 17, carrying the next tranche of Starlink broadband internet satellites to orbit from Florida’s Space Coast into heavily overcast Sunshine State skies The heavy payload of 54 Starlink satellites on the 4-37 mission blasted

200th SpaceX Falcon Rocket Launches 1st Two Next Gen SES mPower Internet Satellites: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – SpaceX put on a terrific twinkling twilight toss of two next generation broadband comsats to a unique orbit for satellite operator SES, Friday afternoon, Dec. 16, on the milestone occasion of their 200th launch of the Falcon rocket family from Florida’s Space Coast. Liftoff of the veteran Falcon 9

SpaceX Launches Japanese Commercial Lander and NASA Cubesat to the Moon: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, FL – In the dead of the night Sunday, Dec. 11, SpaceX successfully launched a pair of science missions to the Moon placing the commercially built Japanese HAKUTO-R robotic lunar lander for iSpace and NASA’s Lunar Flashlight rideshare cubesat searching for lunar water ice into a lunar transfer orbit from Florida’s

Spectacular Sunset Launch and Cape Landing on 1st SpaceX Mission for OneWeb Competitor: Photos

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, LAUNCH COMPLEX 34, FL – SpaceX staged an absolutely spectacular sunset KSC launch and Cape landing for their global connectivity competitor OneWeb, Thursday, Dec. 8 on the first of three commercial missions under contract for the Space Coast with satellites built on the Space Coast just outside the gates of NASA’s Kennedy

Orion Snaps Staggeringly Beautiful Crescent Earth and Moon Selfie and Finishes Final Firing Targeting Home

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA’s Orion Artemis 1 spacecraft snapped a series of staggeringly beautiful selfie views with the cratered lunar surface and the crescent Earth rising against an eerie backdrop of the blackness of space as it conducted the critical return flyby powered (RPF) maneuver Monday, Dec. 5 – that irreversibly committed the capsule to

Orion Capsule Captures Stunning Imagery of Tortured Lunar Surface Terrain During 1st Close Flyby: Mosaics

For SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA’s Orion Artemis 1 spacecraft captured stunning up close imagery of the tortured lunar surface terrain during the unpiloted vehicles 1st close flyby orbiting around the Moon’s far side on Flight Day 6 of the test flight mission on 21 Nov. 2022. I’ve created a trio of up close lunar mosaics from