News Archive / Author: Sean Costello

Sean Costello is a technology professional who also researches, writes about and speaks publicly on the inspiring lessons within international space flight program. Prior to joining SpaceFlight Insider in early 2014, Costello was a freelance photographer and correspondent covering shuttle-era Kennedy Space Center launches for various radio and print news organizations.

Articles By Sean Costello

• IMPACT: NASA DART mission successfully collides with asteroid

  September 26th, 2022

  For the first time, a NASA spacecraft was purposefully slammed into an asteroid in order to change the small body’s orbital period.

• Artemis 1 roll back decision to come Monday

  September 25th, 2022

  NASA officials announced Sunday evening that no decision had been reached as to whether the SLS rocket will need to head back to the safety of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

• Northrop Grumman on track for launch of NG-15

  February 20th, 2021

  Blue skies and a positive forecast (holding at 75% favorable) greeted the NG-15 Antares launch vehicle this morning, as NASA and Northrop Grumman continue preparations for today’s launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s Pad-0A, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

• Orion is on the move, across the grounds of Kennedy Space Center

  January 16th, 2021

  Under blue Florida skies, NASA put in motion the next phase of preparations for the first Space Launch System (SLS) mission, Artemis I, with the moving of the Orion capsule from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility.

• Remembering Apollo 8, celebrating Christmas from a distance

  December 24th, 2020

  As 2020 draws to a close, families worldwide are gathering for Christmas Eve celebrations in various degrees of isolation, driven in large part to public health restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

• “All Systems Go”: Schedule of Crew-1 launch countdown events

  November 15th, 2020

  Following the confirmation by SpaceX via Twitter, that “All systems are go for tonight’s launch at 7:27 p.m. EST”, SpaceFlight Insider has produced this handy reference of the key countdown events and their approximate times.

• ULA successfully launches NRO-101 mission into evening Florida sky

  November 13th, 2020

  With the tell-tale crackle of three GEM 63 solid rocket boosters, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket leapt from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 41 pad at 5:32 p.m. EST this evening, carrying a top-secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) payload skyward.

• Crew-1’s dress rehearsal complete; countdown to launch continues

  November 12th, 2020

  With less than 48 hours until the scheduled liftoff of Falcon 9 and NASA’s Crew-1 mission, all systems appear go on Florida’s Space Coast.

• GHGSat releases PULSE, an online tool to visualize worldwide methane gas concentration

  October 21st, 2020

  Accessible at no-cost for public and community use, GHGSat’s newly released PULSE project brings methane gas concentration data within reach of anyone seeking to explore their interactive, online worldwide map. In this screenshot taken by the author during a tour of the PULSE platform, Dr. Sarah Gallagher with the Canadian Space Agency is explaining how […]

• Booster B1051 welcomed home for a sixth time

  October 21st, 2020

  The Falcon 9 first stage booster used to lift the most recent batch of Starlink satellites has entered Port Canaveral, arriving in the early morning light of October 21, 2020.

• Weather continues to wreak havoc, SpaceX forced to scrub Starlink launch

  October 5th, 2020

  At 7:26 a.m. EDT, SpaceX tweeted that they were calling a scrub on their latest attempt to launch the thirteenth batch of Starlink satellites, with no likelihood for the current weather systems to clear the area.  “We are standing down from today’s Starlink mission due to weather violations on the Range. The team is setting […]

• Northrop Grumman successfully launches NG-14 Cygnus spacecraft

  October 2nd, 2020

  It was an on-time departure from Wallops Island tonight, as a Northrop Grumman Antares booster lifted the NG-14 payload aloft at 9:16 p.m. EDT.

• NROL-44 remains grounded following second hot-fire abort

  October 1st, 2020

  With just 7 seconds remaining in the count, ULA’s Delta IV Heavy Terminal Count Sequencer Rack (TCSR) aborted the September 30, 2020 launch attempt, which was scheduled for 23:43 p.m. EDT.

• Weather systems prevail, ULA forced to scrub NROL-44

  September 28th, 2020

  At 6:32 p.m. this evening, ULA tweeted that weather was responsible for the scrub of their planned NROL-44 launch attempt, scheduled to have occurred at 12:02 a.m. early Tuesday morning.

• Weather scrubs SpaceX launch of Starlink satellites, NROL-44 still set to fly tonight

  September 28th, 2020

  Weather has forced the scrub of the next launch of Starlink satellites, abandoning SpaceX’s plans for a September 28, 2020 liftoff.