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Welcome to 321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

ULA and SpaceX still targeting this week

United Launch Alliance and SpaceX teams on the Space Coast are still targeting this week for the launch of Delta IV Heavy and Falcon 9 rockets, respectively.

ULA is firmly on the Eastern Range''s schedule for its mission to loft a secretive intelligence-gathering National Reconnaissance Office satellite from Cape Canaveral''s Launch Complex 37. The window to launch opens at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and closes an hour-and-a-half later.

The last time the three-core Delta IV Heavy launched from the Space Coast was in August 2018.

SpaceX, however, remains in limbo as it waits for at-sea conditions in the Atlantic?to calm down. The company stood down from its planned Starlink launch from Kennedy Space Center''s pad 39A last week due to rough seas, which can make it impossible for the Falcon 9 rocket''s first stage to land on a drone ship after liftoff.

An update on the mission - the 13th for Starlink - is expected this week. See our full launch calendar here.

UAE says NASA will train astronauts

The United Arab Emirates on Monday said it entered into a partnership with NASA to train its astronauts for future missions to the International Space Station.

Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum?said via Twitter his country''s astronaut candidates will train for routine stays on the ISS to?include specializations in long-duration missions and spacewalks. He did not specify which vehicles they would fly on, but SpaceX''s Crew Dragon and Boeing''s Starliner capsule are possibilities.

The National, an English-language newspaper based in the UAE, said the country''s first person to fly in space,?Hazza Al Mansouri, reported for training in Houston on Monday with colleague?Sultan Al Neyadi. The newspaper also said the partnership could help the UAE join NASA''s revived moon program known as Artemis.

The UAE will pay NASA for the two-and-a-half-year training cycle.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly. Support his space journalism by subscribing at?floridatoday.com/specialoffer/.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

Crew-1 astronauts arrive at KSC ...

It turns?out two falcons will make SpaceX''s next crewed mission to the International Space Station a reality.

A chartered Dassault Falcon 900 jet flew into Kennedy Space Center''s former Shuttle Landing Facility on Sunday, dropping off astronauts Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, Shannon Walker, and Soichi Noguchi?for the next phase of their launch preparations. NASA''s own Gulfstream jet was unavailable due to scheduled inspections.

The astronauts''?next ride: a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule, currently slated for liftoff from pad 39A at 7:49 p.m. Saturday.

... And are eager to go

Despite a confluence of issues working against them, the four astronauts slated to fly NASA and SpaceX''s six-month?mission to the International Space Station are eager to get off the ground.

Speaking with reporters?Monday, NASA''s Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Shannon Walker, along with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, said everything is proceeding as planned for their 7:49 p.m. Saturday liftoff on a Falcon 9 rocket?from Kennedy Space Center. Yet despite the obstacles - everything from a snowballing coronavirus pandemic to a contentious election season to a tropical system uncomfortably close to Florida - the team remains optimistic.

"Well, it is 2020," Crew-1 mission commander Hopkins said. "It''s been difficult, but at the same time, I would say people have done an amazing job of getting us to this point."

SpaceX sends another GPS satellite?to orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket vaulted off its Cape Canaveral pad Thursday evening, its nine Merlin main engines taking a military-owned satellite to orbit and paving the way for the company''s next launch of NASA astronauts.

At 6:24 p.m., the brand new 230-foot rocket took the Space Force''s latest Global Positioning System satellite to orbit, its first stage flipping around and landing on an Atlantic Ocean drone ship along the way. The spacecraft, known as GPS III SV-04, was scheduled to separate from the second stage about 90 minutes after liftoff.

The newest versions of the spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin in Colorado, are more accurate than their predecessors and provide navigation data to more than four billion users worldwide.

ULA now looking to launch Atlas V Wednesday

The planned weekend launch of an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station has been pushed back to Wednesday because of Tropical Storm Eta, United Launch Alliance said Friday.

ULA will instead?target?no earlier than 5:22 p.m. Wednesday.

"We are rolling the Atlas V rocket carrying the NROL-101 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office back to the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) to secure the payload and vehicle," the company said Friday.

Atlas V''s last launch attempt on last Wednesday?was scrubbed?due to issues with the fueling system at Launch Complex 41, but ULA also confirmed the hardware has been fixed.

New bridge could be sign of things to come

A coalition of organizations continues?to push forward with the replacement of Kennedy Space Center''s aging drawbridge, a project that offers a glimpse into a possible future when NASA and the Space Force merge their Space Coast facilities to focus more on their core missions.

According to permitting documents recently filed by the Florida Department of Transportation and NASA, construction of a new bridge that extends State Road 405 in south Titusville to the spaceport is still slated to begin in early 2022. The existing structure?is referred to as NASA Causeway West or the Indian River Bridge.

An FDOT spokesperson confirmed the replacement?will span 4,025 feet and have a minimum clearance of 65 feet, eliminating the need for a drawbridge that often?backs up traffic when tall?boats need to pass?underneath. The current bridge runs 3,000 feet and only has a 28-foot vertical clearance.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

Crew-1 launch heralds start of new era

Routine,?operational missions to the International Space Station - complete with astronauts - are officially underway.

Four astronauts vaulted off Kennedy Space Center''s pad 39A at 7:27 p.m. Sunday, kicking off a 27-hour flight in their Crew Dragon capsule and setting the stage for NASA and SpaceX''s first full-duration ISS mission. NASA''s?Victor Glover, Mike Hopkins, and Shannon Walker, along with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are slated to dock at 11 p.m. Monday.

Under the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic and tumultuous election season, the Crew-1 mission astronauts chose an apt name for their capsule: Resilience.

Cuteness alert

Crew-1 officially is carrying four astronauts to the ISS. But a fifth space traveler is also hitching a ride: Baby Yoda.

The tiny plush doll is just the latest "Zero-G indicator" to make the news.

New commander to take over the 45th Space Wing

The Air Force recently announced a change of leadership at the 45th Space Wing, Patrick Air Force Base.?

Brig. Gen. Stephen G. Purdy will be assigned as commander of the 45th Space Wing?and director of the?Eastern Range, U.S. Space Force, Patrick Air Force Base replacing Brig. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess.?

The change is part of the normal military rotation.

Dates for the official change of command have not been announced yet.?

Atlas V launches spy satellite to orbit

An Atlas V rocket roared off its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, punching through clouds that didn''t stand a chance in the face of the 206-foot rocket''s 1.8 million pounds of thrust.

Then just a few minutes after?the 5:32 p.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 41, United Launch Alliance began scaling down the amount of live footage in the mission webcast, a requirement of?its secretive customer: the National Reconnaissance Office. Friday''s flight boosted NROL-101, an intelligence-gathering satellite.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

SpaceX continues to add to internet constellation

Thursday''s launch marked the 12th batch of Starlink satellites SpaceX sent up to low-Earth orbit, bringing the internet constellation to roughly 700?- a small number considering the plan is to have tens of thousands of those satellites beaming down and providing internet to Earthlings down below.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said public beta testing could begin later this year in North America.

"The Starlink team is on the beginning stages of our global space-based internet constellation but we are well into our first phase of testing with our private beta program with plans to roll out a public beta later this year," SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during SpaceX''s webcast.?

Some Patrick airmen switch over the Space Force

More than two dozen Air Force service members stationed on the Space Coast officially transferred to the Space Force on Wednesday, marking a small part of the overall effort to move thousands to the military''s newest branch before the end of the year.

The 45th Space Wing confirmed that 26?airmen - 19 officers and seven enlisted - transferred during small ceremonies led by their squadron commanders at Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. All are assigned to either the?space operations?or?space systems operations?career fields.

NASA sucessfully test fires giant rocket

NASA and Northrop Grumman teams ignited?a massive solid rocket booster in Utah on Wednesday, kicking off a two-minute test of the hardware slated to power upcoming versions of the agency''s Space Launch System rocket.

At 3:05 p.m. Eastern, the?five-segment booster?roared to life with 3.6 million pounds of thrust in Promontory, located northwest of Salt Lake City, for a roughly two-minute hotfire demonstration. All appeared to go well and Northrop Grumman later confirmed a successful test.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

Weather forces SpaceX Starlink scrub

Thick clouds over Kennedy Space Center forced SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 rocket launch early Monday, likely dashing the Space Coast''s hopes for?three back-to-back missions before the end of the month.

"Standing down from launch of Starlink due to weather,"?the company said?just before the scheduled 10:22 a.m. liftoff from pad 39A.?"Will announce a new target launch date once confirmed."

The Starlink launch was the first of three slated in for the Space Coast in some 36 hours. A Delta IV Heavy was ready for a launch of a national security satellite very early this morning after several delays and SpaceX is set you launch a GPS satellite this evening.

NASA''s economic impact on Florida: $5.9 billion

It''s official: NASA brings big bucks to the state of Florida.

On Friday, the agency released its first-ever agency wide economic impact report.?

According to the report, 43?states receive an economic impact of more than $10 million. Of those 43 states, eight have an economic impact of $1 billion or more.

In Florida, NASA's economic output was $5.9 billion. The agency employs 33,903 people here.?

Artemis moon program waiting for budget news

The clock is ticking down on whether NASA will get the funding it needs to land the first woman on the moon by 2024.

The mission, known as the Artemis program, hinges on $3.2 billion for a human landing system that NASA requested as part of the 2021 fiscal year budget, which begins Oct. 1.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

SpaceX makes first polar launch from Cape in decades

The weather was iffy all day but the heavens parted for just a moment and allowed the Falcon 9 to take flight south and make history as the first rocket to launch a satellite into a polar orbit from Cape Canaveral in 60 years.

The southern trajectory meant that bystanders all down the coast of Florida got the opportunity?to see the launch as the rocket headed toward them instead of away. But storm clouds prevented many from getting a good view.?

SpaceX to try again with Starlink launch

The launches just keep on rolling for SpaceX and the Space Coast.

After successfully making history Sunday evening by conducting the?first polar orbit launch from Cape Canaveral?since the 1960s, SpaceX is planning on launching yet another batch of Starlink satellites Tuesday morning.

Scheduled to liftoff no earlier than 9:29 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center pad 39A, this will mark SpaceX''s 12th batch of Starlink satellites it sends up to low-Earth orbit.

Boeing names third astronaut for first operational flight

A third member has joined Boeing''s first operational crewed flight to the International Space Station.

NASA announced Tuesday morning astronaut?Jeanette Epps will join Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada on Boeing''s Starliner-1 mission, which will mark the first operational crewed flight of the company''s Starliner spacecraft following a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test and Crew Flight Test.

Boeing had conducted an uncrewed flight test of Starliner in December 2019, but after the?capsule failed to arrive to the ISS?due to a series of software issues, the company and NASA decided to repeat the orbital flight test, currently slated to happen later this year.

Epps, Williams and Cassada will embark on a six-month expedition on the ISS, which is expected to occur sometime in 2021.?

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

NASA, SpaceX push back next crewed launch

SpaceX and NASA have delayed the upcoming launch of astronauts from Kennedy Space Center due to hardware issues discovered with a Falcon 9 rocket during a recent launch attempt, both confirmed Saturday.

NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Michael Hopkins, and Shannon Walker, along with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, are now slated to fly to the International Space Station no earlier than early-to-mid November. Pad 39A will host the Crew Dragon capsule mission known as SpaceX Crew-1.

In a statement, NASA said the delay gives SpaceX more time "to complete hardware testing and data reviews as the company evaluates off-nominal behavior of Falcon 9 first stage engine gas generators observed during a recent non-NASA mission launch attempt."

Starlink launch ends ''Scrubtober''

After more than a month of scrubs and delays, SpaceX broke the Space Coast''s launch drought early October 6, when a Falcon 9 rocket boosted 60 Starlink internet satellites from Kennedy Space Center.

The 7:29 a.m. liftoff from pad 39A signaled the end of what was commonly referred to as "Scrubtober," a long series of mission delays that actually began in September due to hardware issues and inclement weather. Tuesday''s Starlink mission, for example, had been scrubbed four times.

"With that, we hope you have a wonderful end of your day and a happy end to Scrubtober," SpaceX engineer?Siva Bharadvaj said an hour after liftoff when the satellites separated?from the second stage.

Starlink already paying dividends

Only several hundred satellites into its planned mega-constellation of thousands, SpaceX''s Starlink network appears to already be paying dividends for the company that wants to use it for funding eventual trips to the moon and Mars.

In batches of about 60 at a time, SpaceX has launched 13 successful Starlink missions from a mix of Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, boosting the internet-beaming network''s?size to 718 currently in orbit. That cadence?made the California-based company?the world''s largest satellite operator by volume?last November.

Emergency personnel battling wildfires, a Native American tribe, and even the Department of Defense have all stepped up to express their interest in the broadband constellation designed to?bypass complicated ground infrastructure.

Astronaut steps back from first Boeing launch

Veteran astronaut Chris Ferguson announced he would step down from Starliner''s first crewed flight to the International Space Station next year, Boeing and NASA confirmed Wednesday.

"I want to share with you a difficult and personal decision I have had to make," Ferguson said in a?video posted to his Twitter account. "I have chosen to step aside as commander of the crewed flight test scheduled for next year."

The three-time space shuttle veteran, who went to Boeing as a corporate astronaut after the end of the program, said next year is important to him and his family. He made several commitments he "simply can''t risk missing."

Ferguson will stay on with`?the Starliner program as the director of mission integration and operations, as well as director of crew systems for Boeing''s Commercial Crew Program.?

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

Delta IV Heavy set for late-night launch

All rockets are special in their own ways, but United Launch Alliance''s Delta IV Heavy takes a uniquely different approach: after its engines deliberately create a fireball, the rocket slowly rises, giving spectators ample time to see its three orange cores?vault away from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Early Wednesday - 2:16 a.m. with an open window?until 6:25 a.m. - will be the Space Coast''s next opportunity to see the rarely launched, 235-foot rocket take flight from Launch Complex 37.

"Delta IV Heavy is a very special vehicle," Tony Taliancich, ULA''s director and general manager of launch operations, said Monday.?"It was designed to be able to lift the most critical, really big satellites into orbit that can''t get there any other way."

KSC''s first female medical chief?dies at 69

Irene Long, an accomplished NASA physician who broke barrier after barrier to become Kennedy Space Center''s first female chief medical officer, died earlier this month, leaving a legacy that continues to reverberate throughout?the spaceport.

Long held?several NASA medical roles?before capping off her three-decade career in 2010 as KSC''s medical chief, an always-changing position that oversees the health of the center''s?workforce?through a broad swath of responsibilities. Her tenure also focused on biomedical research and emergency planning for space shuttle launches and landings, to name a few of the areas she oversaw.

She was 69 and lived in Merritt Island. A cause of death was not available.

SpaceX wins another satellite contract

A European satellite operator has?selected SpaceX to launch four of its upcoming communications payloads, confirming yet another victory for the launch provider that has already secured several other contracts this month alone.

Luxembourg-based SES said SpaceX will start launching the first of four?O3b mPower?payloads?from Cape Canaveral next year, all on Falcon 9 rockets. 03b stands for "other three billion," which refers to the portion of the world''s population without access to reliable broadband internet.

The missions, which will launch 11 total spacecraft,?will be spread out over four separate launches.?The?final destination will be a medium orbit about 5,000 miles (8,000 km) above Earth''s surface.

SpaceX launches booster for record sixth time

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket punched through a thin layer of scattered clouds over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday, delivering dozens of satellites for SpaceX's internet-beaming constellation during a record-breaking mission.

After the 10:31 a.m. blastoff from Launch Complex 40, the previously flown 230-foot rocket met little weather resistance as it delivered 58 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit. It marked the sixth flight -?a SpaceX record -?for the first stage.

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.

Welcome to?321 Launch, our wrap-up of the biggest space news you might have missed over the last week.

SpaceX launches last rocket of 2020

Sonic booms that reverberated across the Space Coast early Saturday signaled a Falcon 9 rocket''s gentle touchdown in Cape Canaveral, a fitting end to a bustling launch year for Florida.

Eight-and-a-half minutes before its four legs made contact with Landing Zone 1, the SpaceX booster vaulted a secretive national defense?satellite from just nine miles away at Kennedy Space Center, then separated from the upper stage. Saturday''s 9 a.m. launch marked the fifth flight for the 162-foot first stage.

The launch was the 31st from the Space Coast this year, the most since the 1960s.

Canada will be second country in history to send astronaut to moon

A Canadian astronaut will join NASA astronauts on the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years,?making Canada the?second nation?to have an astronaut fly around the moon.

The first crewed mission, known as Artemis II, will orbit around the Moon similar to the Apollo 8 mission in order to test NASA''s Orion spacecraft. It's slated for 2023.

NASA and the Canadian Space Agency did not announce who the astronauts will be but a current CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen tweeted that it''s an exciting opportunity for Canada and that Canadians are humbled to play a role in returning humans to the moon.?

NASA selects astronauts for SpaceX''s 4th crewed mission

NASA has announced three of the astronauts for the fourth crewed flight to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon next year.

The trio will consist of NASA astronauts?Raja Chari, who will serve as commander,?Tom Marshburn, who will pilot the spacecraft, and astronaut?Matthias Maurer, of the European Space Agency, who will serve as a mission specialist.? A fourth crew member will be announced later.

The mission, known as?Crew- 3, will launch in the Fall of 2021 after the Crew-2 mission which will launch in Spring of 2021.?The first crewed mission?earlier this year was dubbed "Demo-1."

Dotti Kunde, who spent more than 20 years cooking for astronauts, dies

They are eating some out-of-the-world chocolate chip cookies in heaven today.

Dorothy "Dotti" Kunde,?who spent more than two decades cooking for shuttle astronauts in the days prior to their missions, died Monday.

Kunde whipped up everything from vegetarian meals to barbecue during the 24 years she spent feeding astronauts.

Most famous, though, were the chocolate chip cookies. While Kunde and her team were ostensibly cooking for astronauts, those cookies had a way of escaping quarantine and making their?way throughout Kennedy Space Center.

"Our cookies are famous all over the Cape," Kunde told FLORIDA TODAY in a 2005 interview. "How they get all over the Cape, I don''t know."

See you next year

The 321 Launch newsletter is taking a short holiday break, but will be back in January. See you then. Happy Holidays!

A 25+ year veteran of FLORIDA TODAY, John McCarthy currently oversees the space team and special projects. Support quality local journalism by?subscribing to?FLORIDA TODAY. You can contact McCarthy at 321-752-5018 or jmccarthy@floridatoday.com.