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Air Force certified Falcon Heavy for national security launch but more work needed to meet required orbits

SMC Commander Lt. Gen. Thompson: "They are fully certified now. But that doesn’t mean the work on the Falcon Heavy stops.”
SpaceNews.com

                        WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon Heavy on June 25 launched the Defense Department’s Space Test Program-2 mission with 24 satellites.
Although STP-2 was a U.S.government-funded space launch managed by the Air Force, it was not a National Security Space Launch mission. The NSSL program launches the nation’s most valuable and least risk-tolerant satellites for the military and the intelligence community.
Following its successful STP-2 launch, there was some confusion as to whether Falcon Heavy is fully certified to fly satellites in the NSSL program.
According to the Air Force, the answer is yes, but not completely.
“I certified them to compete last year,” Lt. Gen. John Thompson, commander of the Air Force Space a...

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Japanese cargo spacecraft launch rescheduled after pad fire

The launch of a Japanese cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for Sept. 24 after a launch pad fire scrubbed the original launch attempt earlier this month.
SpaceNews.com

                        Updated Sept. 21 with revised launch date.
WAILEA, Hawaii — The launch of a Japanese cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for Sept. 24 after a launch pad fire scrubbed the original launch attempt earlier this month.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), which operates the H-2 rocket, said Sept. 20 that the H-2B launch of the H-2 Transfer Vehicle (HTV) 8 cargo spacecraft, also known as Kounotori 8, was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Eastern Sept. 23, or 1:30 a.m. Sept. 24 local time at the Tanegashima Space Center. A day later, though, the company said the launch had been rescheduled for 12:05 p.m. Sept. 24 (1:05 a.m. Sept. 25 local time) in order to avoid a p...