Tag: 39A
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50 years ago: Apollo 11 rolls out, NASA sets mid-July target for launch
Fifty years ago today, the massive Saturn V rocket for the Apollo 11 mission that would fulfill President Kennedy’s goal of “landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth” before the end of the decade began rolling out to Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. That same day,…
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SpaceX considering Starship test launches from Pad 39A
As SpaceX continues to make steady progress on multiple Starship test vehicles at their Boca Chica launch facility, the company’s CEO Elon Musk has confirmed that they are also constructing a Starship vehicle in Florida. The Florida-based Starship is expected to launch from one of SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral based facilities, as opposed to the company’s…
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SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches Arabsat-6A
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has conducted its second flight on Thursday, carrying its first customer payload – the Arabsat-6A communications satellite into space. Following a delay on Wednesday due to unacceptable Upper Level winds, Falcon Heavy lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at the start of a one hour, 57-minute window that opened at…
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SpaceX conducts Static Fire on Falcon Heavy ahead of Arabsat 6A launch
Over a year after its previous flight, SpaceX conducted the Static Fire test on its second Falcon Heavy. This rocket – the first Block 5 Falcon Heavy – will launch Arabsat 6A to a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from LC-39A. The static fire took place on Friday, with the test occurring at 12 pm local…
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SpaceX conducts static fire test on Falcon 9 ahead of Crew Dragon debut
SpaceX has conducted the milestone of a static fire test in preparation of the historic Crew Dragon debut mission – Demo Mission-1 (DM-1) – from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. The launch will be the first orbital test flight of Crew Dragon, though without astronauts onboard. The Falcon 9 vehicle includes core B1051,…
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Falcon 9 with Dragon 2 rolls out for DM-1 dry dress rehearsal at 39A
The SpaceX Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon capsule which will execute the Demonstration Mission-1 (DM-1) test flight have rolled out to Pad 39A for fit checks ahead of launch. The rollout is a strong indicator that SpaceX is nearly ready to perform the much anticipated DM-1 mission – an uncrewed certification flight for NASA’s Commercial…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Es’Hail-2 from 39A
SpaceX launched Qatar’s Es’hail-2 spacecraft Thursday, using a Falcon 9 rocket to place the communications satellite into orbit. Falcon lifted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at the start of a 101-minute window that opened at 15:46 Eastern Time (20:46 UTC). Thursday’s mission used a flight-proven Falcon 9 booster, making its second mission. Thursday’s launch…
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Commercial Crew completes training and prepares flight hardware
Teams from NASA, SpaceX, and the Department of Defense recently completed medical emergency training at Cape Canaveral. Launch pads are receiving final upgrades, and flight hardware is beginning to arrive, as both Commercial Crew providers progress towards returning crew launch capability to American soil. On October 25, an emergency simulation was conducted at the Kennedy…
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SpaceX finalizing Pad 39A upgrades for return to crew operations
SpaceX is finishing its years-long campaign to return Launch Pad 39A to crew operations. Following the installation of the Crew Access Arm (CAA), workers have now relocated the Shuttle-era slidewire baskets support structure to a higher level on the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) on Pad 39A. Additionally, although it is not required for crew operations,…
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SLS ML completes 39B testing rolls back to the VAB
The Space Launch System (SLS) Mobile Launcher (ML) has conducted a major milestone, as it rolled to Pad 39B atop Crawler Transporter -2 (CT-2). Engineers are now testing the huge structure at the “clean pad” before rolling back – now set for this coming weekend – to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for one year’s…