321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week (March 21)
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SpaceX kicks off weekend with SES launch
Just after sunset Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminated the Space Coast's dusk sky after an on-time liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The 7:38 p.m. EDT mission from Launch Complex 40 carried the SES 18 and 19 communications satellites to orbit for Luxembourg-based operator SES, then wrapped up with a drone ship landing in the Atlantic Ocean. It marked SpaceX's second flight of the day after a different Falcon 9 launch four hours prior from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, which boosted another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites. That mission also included a drone ship landing.
NASA and contractor reveal new spacesuits
NASA and Axiom Space last week revealed the next-generation spacesuit designed to put agency astronauts — and, someday, even private customers — back on the surface of the moon.
The sleek, mostly dark gray spacesuits revealed at Space Center Houston in Texas aren't as bulky as the Apollo variants astronauts donned on the surface in the 1960s and '70s, but they serve the same purpose: protect Artemis program moonwalkers from the harsh environment of space while also providing life support, communications, tracking, and more. The design of the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or AxEMU, was also developed in cooperation with costume designers working on the popular "For All Mankind" series available on Apple TV+.
Upcoming launches:
March 22: Relativity Space “Good Luck, Have Fun”
Company / Agency: Internal Relativity Space mission
Rocket: Terran 1
Location: Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Launch Window: 10:00 p.m. Wednesday to 1:00 a.m. EDT Thursday
Trajectory: East
Weather: 90% "go"
Landing: None; Terran 1 is expendable
Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
About: Relativity Space will attempt the first orbital launch of its 110-foot, 3D-printed Terran 1 rocket. The inaugural demonstration mission known as "Good Luck, Have Fun" will not feature any customer payloads. The Terran 1 rocket is the largest 3D-printed object to attempt orbital flight.
Notes:
Scrubbed Wednesday, March 8, due to technical issues during the countdown.
Scrubbed Saturday, March 11, due to technical issues at the end of the launch window.
March 24: SpaceX Starlink 5-5
Company / Agency: Internal SpaceX mission
Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Location: Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
Launch Window: 11:23 a.m. to 3:53 p.m. EDT
Trajectory: TBD
Weather: TBD
Landing: Drone ship
Live coverage: Starts 90 minutes before liftoff at floridatoday.com/space
About: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the company's latest batch of Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and land the Falcon 9 first-stage booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
As usual, we'll have live coverage of these missions at floridatoday.com/space. For the latest, see our full schedule at floridatoday.com/launchschedule.
Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: 321 Launch: Space news you may have missed over the past week (March 21)
