Well... that was a year. The United States had 87 launches: 61 by SpaceX (60 Falcon 9, 1 Falcon Heavy) 9 Electron 7 Atlas V 3 Rocket 3.3 2 LauncherOne 2 Antares 230 1 each of Delta IV, Firefly Alpha, and Space Launch System The People's Republic of China had 64 launches: 24 Long March 2 4 Long March 3 11 Long March 4 2 Long March 5 4 Long March 6 3 Long March 7 1 Long March 8 4 Long March 11 5 Kuaizhou 2 Ceres-1 1 each Hyperbola-1, Jielong-3, Zhuque-2 and ZK-1A Russia had 22 launches: 19 Soyuz 2 Angara 1 Proton ESA had 5 launches: Three Ariane 5, two Vega-C India had 5 launches: Three PSLV, 1 LVM3, 1 SSLV There was also a launch each from Japan, South Korea, and Iran. We had seven complete launch failures and one partial failure. Against all odds, we had five crewed launches to the International Space Station, and two to Tiangong. Artemis 1 saw a successful trip around the Moon and back to Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test was an astounding success as it impacted asteroid 65803b Dimorphos. The James Webb Space Telescope completed its configuration and began its infrared space sciences mission. But for all the successes, there were many complications. Russia's misadventure in Ukraine almost completely ostracized them from space science outside the International Space Station, with many missions, particularly ExoMars 2022 with ESA, laying in ruins. The removal of Dmitry Rogozin as head of Roscosmos has apparently cooled some of the fires for now. But the future of the ISS remains shaky. ******** The proliferation of commercial space exploration beyond the Earth sphere has been pushed to 2023. It begins when Hakuto-R is aimed to land on the Moon at Atlas crater in April. Nova-C will bring another commercial lunar lander mission launched by a Falcon 9 in March. The Peregrine lander is still aiming for Q1 on the maiden flight of the Vulcan Centaur rocket. OSIRIS-REx will deliver its samples from asteroid 101955 Bennu in September before continuing on to a 2029 encounter with asteroid 99942 Apophis. Juno will continue to draw closer to Jupiter, and make the first of two close fly-bys with Io at the end of the year. At least five Falcon Heavy missions are planned, with Psyche hoping to finally begin its journey to the Asteroid Belt in October. United Launch Alliance additionally has another four Vulcan Centaur launches planned, though the first Dream Chaser launch is pushed to the second half of the year. Things are looking increasingly unlikely for Ariane 6, with the earliest launch attempt aiming for the Fall. But Vega-C has again been delayed by yet another upper stage failure.
It appears the first launch of 2023 will be by SpaceX. The rideshare flight Transporter-6 is currently planned for tomorrow morning at 9:56am EST from Pad 40, Cape Canaveral. A total of eight space tugs are packed into the fairing, with more than 115 smallsats and cubesats. This includes 36 more Planet Labs Flock Earth observation cubesats. The launch will be atop B1060.15, with an RTLS to Landing Zone 1. SpaceX is also planning their second launch for OneWeb on Sunday. Meanwhile, ABL Space Systems is set to attempt a first launch for their RS1 rocket again, with a new set of launch windows from Kodiak Island opening next Monday at 6pm EST (1pm AKST). Relativity is also hoping to get a premier launch for their Terran 1 rocket in January from Pad 16, Cape Canaveral. ******** There is one weird thing on the launch manifest: IMECE. It is an Earth observation satellite from the Turkish university TÜBİTAK UZAY. It is planned for an SSO launch, and is penciled in for January 15. Just one problem: it's not listing what rocket it's planned for. It's listed to be 1,800 pounds, so it's too heavy for Rocket 3.3. Definitely weird to have a payload so close in the schedule with no announced rocket. ******** Japan's H3 rocket is hammered down for its debut flight. It's penned in for February 11 at 8:37pm EST. It will carry ALOS-3, which is their latest equivalent to NASA's Landsat. A second one, ALOS-4, is planned for H2 2023, likely in case there's an issue on this flight. The debut launch of Vulcan Centaur, with the Peregrine lunar lander, appears to be aiming for February 25. But all eyes are on Starship and Super Heavy, with some thinking it could launch as early as this month.
The Falcon 9 launch of OneWeb Flight 16 has been narrowed to Sunday night at 11:45pm EST. The next Starlink launch will be a couple hours earlier at 9:54pm EST, but from Vandenberg SFB. A Falcon Heavy launch is penned in for next week with USSF-67. It will launch from Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, at 5:30pm EST. OneWeb is aiming for their other LVM3 flight to take place in February.
Walter Cunningham was born on March 16, 1932, in Creston, Iowa. He spent a year at Santa Monica College before joining the Navy in 1951. He was shifted to the Marine Corps and became an aviation cadet. He would fly 54 missions over Korea as part of post-armistice patrols of the DMZ. In 1956, Walt returned home and was commissioned in the Marine Corps Reserve. He got married, and initially returned to Santa Monica before transferring to UCLA under the G.I. Bill of Rights, ultimately getting a master's in physics in 1961. After working three years as a scientist at RAND Corporation, during which he fulfilled his requirements for a doctorate but never completed it, he was selected as an astronaut as part of Group 3 in 1963. He was the third civilian to be selected as an astronaut, after Neil Armstrong and Elliot See. Walt would ultimately be placed as CM pilot for Apollo 7. During the mission, he completed several tests of the Service Propulsion System to test the engine's accuracy and fuel consumption. After the mission, he was placed in charge of the Apollo Applications Program section of the Flight Crew directorate. He left NASA in 1971, and retired from the Marine Corps reserve as a colonel in 1975. In 1974, he took part in a business seminar at Harvard Business School attended by several former and then-current astronauts (such as Stuart Roosa), and would spend his retirement working as part of several business ventures. He would also write his memoir, The All-American Boys, in 1977. He died Tuesday night from complications resulting after a fall, aged 90. He was survived by his second wife, and two children from his first marriage.
Boy, do we have a lot to unpack today. Virgin Orbit decided to suddenly go ahead with the "Start Me Up" LauncherOne campaign out of Cornwall yesterday. It Got through the boost phase, but something happened at the co-elliptic burn, so it didn't stay in orbit. I guess the next try for the UK will be out of SaxaVord. ******** The Starlink launch was delayed to tonight due to the deluge going on in California. But the OneWeb flight went without a hitch, with B1076.2 coming back to land at Landing Zone 1. There are some big things in store for SpaceX right now. Rollout and rise of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket as the sun set over Florida last night. @NASASpaceflight Timelapse of live coverage over at https://t.co/icguJj64A8 pic.twitter.com/DNBpUDEGuP— Gav Cornwell (@SpaceOffshore) January 10, 2023 Meanwhile, a Falcon Heavy has been lifted vertical at Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center, for a static fire in preparation for the USSF-67 campaign. Out of the Starbase fog, the world's most powerful rocket!https://t.co/e3xbqPnwZ5 pic.twitter.com/Mp8Yij413K— Chris Bergin - NSF (@NASASpaceflight) January 10, 2023 While Super Heavy Booster 7 and Starship 24 stand tall once more at the Orbital Launch Mount at Space Padre. Time will tell if this is their final trip to the launch pad before finally attempting the first Starship flight.
Weather continues not to cooperate with the next Starlink flight out of Vandenberg SFB. They are now looking to launch Saturday night at 10:06pm EST. The next GPS Block III launch has now been penciled in for next Wednesday, with a launch window opening around Noon EST. It will take off from Pad 40, Cape Canaveral. Electron's first launch out of Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, "Virginia is for Launch Lovers", is now set for January 23 with a two-hour launch window opening at 6pm EST. ******** Russian space agency and NASA officials said Wednesday they will accelerate the launch of the next Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, and fly it to the complex next month without anyone on-board to replace a damaged Soyuz crew ferry ship.https://t.co/0UzD116M1T pic.twitter.com/aLGBBsssoV— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) January 11, 2023 Roscosmos and NASA have decided to send Soyuz MS-22 back to Earth without its crew. Soyuz MS-23 has been moved forward to February 20 to take over the mission. It was originally intended to launch with commander Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub, and American seat swap astronaut Loral O'Hara. Chub would be part of an extended mission, and would be replaced by a cosmonaut from Belarus who would've been launched on Soyuz MS-24 with two other cosmonauts for the next ISS expedition. All those have been pushed back to subsequent Soyuz flights.
ABL Space Systems’ RS1 rocket fell back on its launch pad at Kodiak Island, Alaska, shortly after liftoff Tuesday on the company’s first orbital launch attempt, destroying the vehicle and damaging the ground facility.📷: @ablspacesystemshttps://t.co/8pwA0Mmsa3 pic.twitter.com/TrZN70Keib— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) January 12, 2023 It's not often we get rocket fallbacks these days. The RS1 rocket finally made its first launch attempt Thursday at 6:27pm EST (2:27pm AKST). But it couldn't maintain its thrust, and fell back onto the launch pad. The rocket exploded, and the pad itself was damaged, likely along with ABL Space Systems' mobile launcher. This is what happens when tests get delayed. ******** The next GPS Block III satellite is scheduled to launch tomorrow morning at 7:10am EST from Pad 40, Cape Canaveral. This will be followed by a Thursday morning launch of the first set of Starlink comsats, this time from Pad 4E, Vandenberg SFB. Before the debutant H3 rocket goes up, JAXA plans on launching an H-IIA rocket on January 24 at 8pm EST. It will launch an IGS radar reconnaissance satellite for Japan's intelligence agency, Naichō.
Elon Musk declared recently that Starship and the Super Heavy will launch soon. There are still plenty of steps to come. All indications are that SpaceX is GO for a wet dress rehearsal of the Starship propellant loading sequence. Tune in to Starbase Live for now. A commentary stream will start as the tank farm spools up. https://t.co/9tCZaeV88B pic.twitter.com/VBNa02XMTO— Michael Baylor (@MichaelBaylor_) January 23, 2023 Booster 7 and Starship 24 are currently standing at the Orbital Launch Mount. There are rumors flying that the Wet Dress Rehearsal could come today. The entire stack will be completely fueled for this test, but no engine firings are planned. There is likely a series of static fires to come, culminating with the first all-engine firing of Super Heavy. Current projections suggest a potential launch in late February.
After a quick breather, SpaceX is ramping right back up with at least three new launches over the next week. The next two launches for Shell 5 of Starlink will come from Pad 40 at 4:02am EST Thursday morning, and from Pad 39A at 3:27am next Tuesday morning. These will bracket a Shell 2 launch from Vandenberg at 10:02am EST Sunday morning. Following this, SpaceX has penciled in the launch of the Amazonas Next comsat for Hispasat on February 5. And SpaceX Crew 6 is penned in for February 26 at 3:07am EST. There are also SpaceX launches for February planned for SES, the German Bundeswehr, Inmarsat, and WorldView. ******** Rocket Lab is finally ready to launch from American soil. "Virginia is for Launch Lovers", with a triple SIGINT payload for HawkEye 360, is currently planned to launch this evening from Pad 2, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Its two-hour launch window opens at 6pm EST.
Edward Higgins White II was born on November 14, 1930, in San Antonio. His father was a dirigible pilot in the Army Air Corps, and would move to logistics command after attending Harvard Business School. By the time the younger Ed was at his father's alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy, the older Ed had become a brigadier general in the new U.S. Air Force. He would retire in 1957 as a major general, having earned several medals associated with World War II and Korea. The younger Ed was a classmate of later fellow astronaut Michael Collins at West Point, and took part in Olympic qualification for track and field for the 1952 Summer Olympics. He graduated in the top 25% of his class in 1952, and volunteered to join the Air Force. After pilot training, he flew the North American F-86 Sabre and F-100 Super Sabre out of West Germany in the mid-1950s. He would then go to Air Force Test Pilot School before going to the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. He also earned his master's in aerospace engineering from Michigan in 1959; his classmates there included future astronauts Jim McDivitt, Jim Irwin, and Ted Freeman. Ed was selected as one of the New Nine astronauts in September 1962. He was placed as junior pilot with Jim McDivitt in the second Gemini mission, Gemini 4. As the junior pilot, he was tasked with America's first extravehicular activity. During the second orbit of the mission on June 3, 1965, he exited the Gemini 4 spacecraft over Hawaii, and remained outside for 23 minutes. Following the mission, he was put into Project Apollo, and assigned to its first mission, Apollo 204, with commander Gus Grissom and junior pilot Roger Chaffee. I don't think I need to tell you how that story ends. Edward White died 56 years ago today in the Apollo 204 spacecraft when the interior caught fire during a plugs-out test. He was 36. He left a wife and two children, and his father would outlive him by nearly 12 years. His final rank in the Air Force was lieutenant colonel. Although NASA wanted him buried at Arlington National Cemetery with his crewmates, Ed wished to be interred at West Point, and his wife and Frank Borman ensured his wishes were upheld. His father, mother, and brother—the last of whom died in the Vietnam War, but whose remains weren't identified until 2018—were eventually buried near him.
37 years ago today, the Soviet space shuttle program was in crisis. And no, it had nothing to do with Challenger. It took roughly 12 years, from the formation of the Space Shuttle Task Group in December 1968, for NASA to first fly their space shuttle. The Soviet space shuttle program began in 1971. It was supposed to begin launches in 1983. Ministers were appalled by the lack of progress. There had been nothing yet to test. Three emergency teams were assembled to get things done. One would rush completion of the first orbiter, Buran. One would work on the launch vehicle, the heavy-lift Energia rocket, to launch ASAP, without Buran if necessary. And the last would work on the launch pads. The plan was to conduct the first launch in Q3 1987. They managed to at least get an Energia rocket launched in May 1987. It would be another 18 months before Buran could finally be launched on a test flight.
20 years ago, the Columbia crew lost their lives in the pursuit of exploration and discovery. Today, we lift up their legacies, and embrace NASA’s commitment to safety and the lessons we’ve learned. May we carry their spirit with us as we venture out to the Moon, Mars and beyond. pic.twitter.com/yKSpOgnsHP— Bill Nelson (@SenBillNelson) February 1, 2023
* attempt to launch in March. Success is far from certain, but excitement is guaranteed.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2023 It's looking like we're starting to get some clarity for Starship and Super Heavy. The current plan is for the orbital test flight in March. Of course, there's plenty to do before after. SpaceX is in a race to get the Lunar Starship to the Moon for Artemis 3. ******** The next Falcon 9 launch is Hispasat's Amazonas Nexus comsat, this afternoon at 5:23pm EST from Pad 40, Cape Canaveral. It will be carried aloft by B1073.6. Inmarsat GX 6B has been penciled in for next Saturday. Between those, the next Starlink launch is penciled in for this Saturday. ******** The debut flight of the H3 rocket has been delayed to NET February 15.
15 years ago today, Atlantis was launched on STS-122 from Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center. The primary goal of the mission was attachment of Columbus, the European science laboratory module, to the International Space Station. It was berthed to the station at Harmony starboard. Three EVAs were undertaken to support the berthing of Columbus and outfit it later. Rex Walheim took part in all three, with Stanley Love on two of them, and ESA astronaut Hans Schlegel on one. On EVA 2, they also replaced a nitrogen tank attached to the P1 Truss. They also did a crew transfer, Leopold Eyharts for Daniel Tani, and Atlantis also conducted a reboost for the ISS. The mission lasted 14 days.
The second launch attempt for ISRO's new SSLV rocket took off last night at 10:48pm EST, carrying the EOS-7 Earth observation satellite and NASA's Janus-1 technology demonstrator cubesat. The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle is a new solid-fuel rocket designed to carry 300 kg to a polar SSO. The failure in the first launch last August was chalked up to an error in the accelerometer during first stage separation. As a result, the perigee in its parking orbit ended up at less than 80 km. ******** The first launch attempt for the H3 rocket is back on for Tuesday night at 8:38pm EST, with a window just over 6 minutes long. The next Starlink launch is penned in for Wednesday morning at 11:32am EST from Pad 4E, Vandenberg SFB. Soyuz MS-23, being launched uncrewed to replace the leaking Soyuz MS-22, is now penned in to launch next Sunday at 8:57pm EST.
The EscaPADE mission to Mars has made another appearance. Originally planned as a rideshare for the Psyche mission to the Main Asteroid Belt, it was stripped from the mission prior to its delays last year. It's sat in limbo ever since, but was never canceled. We’re honored to have been selected by @NASA_LSP to launch the ESCAPADE science mission on #NewGlenn. With ESCAPADE, NASA will study Mars’ magnetosphere. Learn more: https://t.co/gckKVDLLkB pic.twitter.com/fQYHcO1uQ3— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) February 9, 2023 Last Thursday, NASA announced that its launch was awarded to Blue Origin via the Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) program. It has been penciled in for a launch during the late 2024 Mars transfer window atop the New Glenn rocket. Therein lies the problem: there is no New Glenn rocket yet. And its main engine, the BE-4 methalox engine, has not yet seen service. BE-4's other rocket, Vulcan Centaur, is still scheduled for its debut flight in March, though an exact timeframe is not yet penciled in. Finishing touches are being applied to Pad 41, Cape Canaveral, and the components of the first rocket are in place. New Glenn is penciled in for later this year still, but there are still fears it could slip further to 2024. And even regardless of that, New Glenn seems to be a bit overkill for a payload that totals under 200 kg. And the timeline seems a bit tight if they are planning something of a larger scale. Something just doesn't sit right about this. ******** Of Course I Still Love You has been called back to the Port of Long Beach. It had gone out for the next Starlink launch out of Vandenberg SFB, but rough seas are expected off the Pacific coast of California and Baja California for the rest of the week, imperiling a potential first stage landing. Chances are pretty good it's not going to launch tomorrow. ******** The launch of Soyuz MS-23, the uncrewed replacement for leaky Soyuz MS-22, has been delayed to early March. After the venting of Progress MS-21's coolant system in a very similar fashion to what happened to Soyuz MS-22, they are re-evaluating Soyuz MS-23 again to see what might be going wrong. SpaceX Crew-6 is still planned for February 26, and Cargo Dragon CRS-27 is still planned for March 11.
ABORT. Japan's H3 rocket aborted its inaugural launch moments before liftoff, following ignition of its main engines. https://t.co/q04XSKONQf pic.twitter.com/VxGGllpLOd— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) February 17, 2023 Said to be an SRB failure. More news pending.
Russia's space agency says preliminary data suggest a coolant leak on a Progress cargo ship docked at the International Space Station Feb. 11 was caused by "external influences" -- possibly during its launch last year, according to a senior NASA official. https://t.co/Ag6AwcWfvJ pic.twitter.com/Qf3JbtYH5R— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) February 22, 2023 The State Commission on the Progress MS-21 coolant leak has hypothesized that the leak may have been caused by some sort of issue that occurred during its launch. Don't know why it would've taken four months to spring the leak. It was deorbited on Sunday. Soyuz MS-23, which is being launched uncrewed to replace the leaky Soyuz MS-22, is scheduled to liftoff tomorrow night at 7:34pm EST. ******** Two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and an Emirati flew to the Kennedy Space Center Tuesday to begin preparations for launch early Monday on a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to replace four crew members aboard the International Space Station.Read more: https://t.co/3iggNmtU2h pic.twitter.com/l3n4FXOH7t— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) February 22, 2023 Meanwhile, the crew of SpaceX Crew-6 arrived yesterday at Kennedy Space Center to complete flight prep and pre-flight quarantine. That launch is scheduled for early Monday morning at 1:45am EST.
Stephen Bowen was born on February 13, 1964, in suburban Boston. After graduating with a bachelor's in electrical engineering from Navy in 1986, he qualified as a submariner aboard the USS Pogy. After getting a master's in ocean engineering from MIT In 1993, he qualified for submarine command with an engineer tour aboard the USS Augusta, then went to SOCOM in 1997. He would ultimately serve as pre-commissioning executive officer for the flagship submarine USS Virginia in May 2000. Two months later, he was selected as an astronaut in the mission specialist track of Group 18. He would fly STS-126 aboard Endeavour in November 2008, and STS-132 aboard Atlantis in May 2010. He was then slotted in for STS-133 aboard Endeavour in January 2011, replacing Timothy Kopra, who was injured in a bicycling accident. This made Stephen the first astronaut to fly consecutive missions. This mission will technically make Bowen the first NASA astronaut selected in the mission specialist track to command a mission. He is married, and has three children.
Warren Hoburg was born on September 16, 1985, in Pittsburgh. He received a bachelor's in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT in 2008, then did post-grad research at UC-Berkeley, ultimately getting a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science in 2013. After spending a year at Boeing, he became a professor at MIT, during which he sponsored a drone research program for the U.S. Air Force. He also manages GPKit, a geometric programming package for the Python programming language. He was selected as an astronaut in Group 22 in 2017, and for Project Artemis in 2020.
Sultan al-Neyadi was born on May 23, 1981, in al-Ain, a town on the border of the emirate of Abu Dhabi and Oman. The son of a soldier, he joined the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates out of high school, and was educated in the United Kingdom, receiving a bachelor's in electronics and communications engineering from the University of Brighton in 2004. After some post-grad work at Zayed Military College in his hometown, he went to Griffith University in Brisbane in 2008, where he earned a doctorate in data leakage prevention in 2011. In 2018, he, along with Hazza al-Mansouri, was selected for a visit to the International Space Station aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. Al-Neyadi would ultimately serve as backup to al-Mansouri, who flew on Soyuz MS-15 on September 25, 2019, then returned two weeks later aboard Soyuz MS-12. (Of note, al-Mansouri would've returned aboard Soyuz MS-10 if not for that mission's launch failure.) al-Neyadi and al-Mansouri would later be selected to train with NASA Astronaut Group 23, in 2021, along with two new Emirati astronaut candidates. In a switch from their original mission, al-Mansouri was named as al-Neyadi's backup for SpaceX Crew-6. Al-Neyadi is married, and has four children.
Andrei Fedayev was born on February 26, 1981, in Serov, Russian SFSR. He received a bachelor's in engineering with a focus on air traffic control from Balashov Military Aviation School in 2004, after which he joined the Russian Air Force. He would spend nine years in the Russian Air Force, logging 500 hours of flight time, and achieving the rank of major. Among his specialties was the Il-38 anti-submarine turboprop bomber. He retired after he was selected as a cosmonaut in 2012. Andrei served as the backup to Anna Kikina for the SpaceX Crew-5 mission. He is married, and has four children.
Could we finally be at the point where we again get two orbital launches within 24 hours at Cape Canaveral? SpaceX Crew-6 is still planned for early Monday morning at 1:45am EST. But a Starlink launch has been penned in for Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm EST. The 45th Weather Squadron gives both launches a 95% chance of weather favorability. Crew-6, SpaceX, and @NASA completed a full rehearsal of launch day activities pic.twitter.com/PSdijAQTFx— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 24, 2023 The crew of SpaceX Crew-6 conducted a full dress rehearsal for launch last night at Pad 39A, Kennedy Space Center. After the dress rehearsal early this morning, SpaceX conducted the static fire of debutant Booster B1078.1. ******** You’ve asked, “Wen Launch?” and to that, we say...👇 Catch us live at Launch Complex 16 in Cape Canaveral, FL on March 8, 2023 to watch the world’s first 3D printed rocket fly. 🚀 #GLHFhttps://t.co/NEhQlvB4Dj pic.twitter.com/4ju05i2Fhg— Relativity Space (@relativityspace) February 22, 2023 The debut flight of the Terran 1 rocket, "Good Luck, Have Fun", is finally solid on the manifest. It's scheduled to launch from Pad 16, Cape Canaveral, at 1:30pm EST on Wednesday, March 8. Pad 16 has been primarily a ballistic missile test pad during its existence, In the early 1960s, it hosted the kerolox HGM-25A Titan I and hypergolic LGM-25C Titan II ICBMs. It was then used for crew processing during Project Gemini, and static fire tests for the Service Propulsion System engines used by the Apollo service module. In the 70s and 80s, it hosted test launches of the MGM-31 Pershing MRBM. My grandpa actually worked on computer systems for the missile at the Martin Marietta facility in Orlando. The pad has languished inactive since 1988. Relativity Space hopes to launch up to nine Terran 1 rockets this year, including a possible second launch from Pad 16 as soon as later in March, and at least one launch from a facility at Vandenberg SFB referred to as "Building 330". ******** The debut launch of the Vulcan Centaur rocket with the Peregrine lunar lander has been pushed back to May 4, with no exact time penned in yet. And now, the thing holding it back might not be the rocket, but the payload. 3/Tory says he feels good about the progress of the Peregrine lunar lander, currently at the @astrobotic facility connected to the @MoonshotMuseum in Pittsburg (still on display until it travels to Florida for more processing). pic.twitter.com/ShA9rj2a4K— Will Robinson-Smith🚀 (@w_robinsonsmith) February 23, 2023 Peregrine is still testing at the Astrobotic facility in Pittsburgh. And it also needs to be checked out at United Launch Alliance facilities at Cape Canaveral prior to integration and launch. Tory Bruno says that the new plan for Peregrine clears the way for the Starliner Crewed Flight Test to launch some time in April. That one has also not yet been solidified on the manifest.