Tag: 39A
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SES-10 F9 static fire – SpaceX for history books & first core stage re-flight
In what is anticipated to be the first of many such occasions, SpaceX has conducted the all-important static fire on Monday of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket that will be tasked with lofting the SES-10 mission to orbit next week. Of historic importance is the fact that this first stage has already…
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SpaceX launches expendable Falcon 9 with EchoStar 23
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has conducted its third flight of the year on Thursday, following a scrub due to high winds on Tuesday. The launch carried a commercial communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The launch took place from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9 Launch: The launch carried…
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SpaceX Static Fires Falcon 9 for EchoStar 23 launch as SLC-40 targets return
SpaceX is preparing to launch its second mission from KSC’s Pad 39A, with the expendable Falcon 9 tasked with the EchoStar 23 mission conducting a Static Fire test on Thursday following an issue during Tuesday’s attempt – ultimately slipping the launch date to March 14. Meanwhile, SLC-40 is preparing for a return to operations in…
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Falcon 9 conducts static fire test on 39A ahead of CRS-10 launch
A moment nearly six years in the making. Fire and flame returned to the historic LC-39A launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center as SpaceX conducted the static fire of its Falcon 9 rocket tasked with lofting the SpX-10 Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station. The ignition of the Falcon 9’s engines occurred…
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Dragon pulls rank as LC-39A readiness realigns SpaceX manifest
SpaceX has officially announced a mission swap, resulting in the Falcon 9 launch of the CRS-10 Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS) becoming the first mission to set sail from the historic 39A pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). That honor was to have gone to the Echostar 23 mission before Dragon’s priority effectively…
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SpaceX continuing to press toward Amos-6 failure root cause
SpaceX is still working towards a root cause into the failure of its Falcon 9 during a Static Fire test. The failure, which resulted in the destruction of the rocket and the Amos-6 satellite, originated in the second stage LOX tank’s helium pressurization system, although the specific cause of the anomaly is not yet fully…
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SpaceX looks to historic Pad 39A for Falcon 9 flight operations
Following the loss of its Falcon 9 rocket during a static fire test, SpaceX is deep into a failure investigation process, which includes an assessment of the damage suffered by SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral. With that pad likely to be out of action for some time, SpaceX is turning its attention next door, to…
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Delving deeper into KSC’s transformation into a Multi-User Spaceport
The 2011 conclusion of NASA’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program posed a major challenge for the Kennedy Space Center, the historic spaceport dotted with facilities purpose-built for shuttles. Eleven months before the shuttle program ended, NASA developed post-shuttle plans for its facilities and operations. Five years later, KSC is into the final leg of its transformation.…
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Canaveral and KSC pads: New designs for space access
For the past several years, the historic launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, have undergone sweeping changes as the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program brought a new vision to the spaceport. Those changes have now spread across the lagoon to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where pad modifications are underway for…
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Falcon Heavy into production as Pad 39A HIF rises out of the ground
SpaceX’s new rocket system, the Falcon Heavy, is continuing preparations for her 2015 debut, with work taking place around the country. Modifications to Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are now making visible progress, in tandem with the opening hardware fabrication and testing at SpaceX assets – hardware that is being born with SpaceX’s…