Tag: ASDS
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SpaceX adds Bob and Doug multipurpose ships to streamlined recovery fleet
The arrival of Doug, the newest addition to the SpaceX recovery fleet, indicates further consolidation of the company’s rocket recovery operations. Although the launch cadence has slowed as SpaceX prepares the next generation of Starlink satellites, the fleet has been busy working on its next generation of recovery vessels to support what will hopefully be…
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SpaceX Launches Eighth Starlink Mission, Read The Instructions With East Coast Droneship Debut
Only a handful of days after successfully returning domestic crew launch capabilities to U.S. soil for the first time since July of 2011, SpaceX continued to steam ahead with its 2020 launch campaign lofting another batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink internet constellation. The eighth flight of Starlink satellites launched on a flight-proven Falcon…
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SpaceX’s Just Read the Instructions droneship arrives in Florida following upgrades
SpaceX’s drone ship Just Read the Instructions (JRTI) has arrived in Port Canaveral, Fla. after undergoing refurbishment in Louisiana. The droneship joins Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) at the port, bringing SpaceX’s tally of east coast-based droneships to two. The additional droneship will help SpaceX’s execute its busy 2020 manifest. (Lead Photo by…
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SpaceX launches Indonesian satellite launch and Israeli moon mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Thursday, carrying a payload of three very different spacecraft: an Indonesian telecommunications satellite, an experimental spacecraft for the US military and the first commercial mission to attempt a landing on the Moon. Falcon lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the opening of a…
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Falcon 9 booster fires up as astronauts visit SpaceX Fleet
SpaceX has successfully static fired its latest Falcon 9 booster ahead of what was to be a weekend launch – prior to a 24 hour slip to allow for additional checkouts – from Cape Canaveral. The test was conducted as SpaceX’s astronaut corp was visiting the company’s fleet of ships at Port Canaveral. SpaceX is…
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SpaceX launches seventh Iridium mission and recovers booster
SpaceX successfully launched the seventh of eight planned missions for Iridium Communications from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base at 04:39 Pacific Time (11:39 UTC). The launch which took place in foggy conditions and high wind shear over the booster recovery zone, yet the first stage still managed to successfully land on the drone ship. A…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 sets new record with Telstar 19V launch from SLC-40
SpaceX conducted their thirteenth launch of the year Sunday, with a Falcon 9 rocket deploying the Telstar 19V communications satellite for Canada’s Telesat. The first of a pair of Falcon 9 launches slated to occur just three days apart, Sunday’s mission began with liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at the opening of…
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SpaceX to attempt five recoveries in less than two weeks as fleet activity ramps up
Begining July 22nd, SpaceX is currently scheduled to perform three Falcon 9 droneship recoveries, a fairing recovery, and a Dragon recovery in less than two weeks. A total of five recoveries in short succession paves the way for an unprecedented amount of activity from SpaceX’s fleet of recovery vessels. The fleet operates out of the…
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SpaceX’s Mr. Steven, the FSV fairing catcher
Last Thursday, SpaceX performed its first full-blown fairing recovery test during the Falcon 9 launch of PAZ and two Starlink demonstration satellites. The attempt involved a new addition to the SpaceX recovery fleet, Mr. Steven, complete with a giant net that is designed to catch returning fairings. While the catch during the PAZ mission was…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches Koreasat 5A
SpaceX has launched the Koreasat-5A communications satellite for South Korea’s KT SAT on Monday, with a Falcon 9 lifting off from the Kennedy Space Center to carry the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Launch occurred on time at 15:34 local time (19:34 UTC), at the opening of a two-hour, 24-minute window. Landing of the first…