Tag: commercial-space
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Elon Musk says SpaceX will try to launch his Tesla Roadster on new heavy-lift rocket
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Dec. 2 with further confirmation, and details about the Roadster’s target orbit. The interstage of SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket pictured inside the company’s factory last year in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX. SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk tweeted Friday that his red Tesla Roadster will head for deep space on…
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Rocket Lab to launch second orbital-class rocket as soon as next week
Rocket Lab’s second Electron rocket at the company’s New Zealand launch base. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab has scheduled the launch of its second Electron rocket from New Zealand as soon as Dec. 7, U.S. time, on a test flight that will aim to deploy three small CubeSats in orbit. The two-stage booster has a…
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Guidance error reportedly led to Russian launch failure
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Dec. 1 with news that Soyuz rocket launches will be permitted to continue as scheduled. Multiple replays of Tuesday’s launch of a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Liftoff occurred at 0541 GMT (12:41 a.m. EST; 2:41 p.m. local time at Vostochny). Russian officials could complete their investigation of a…
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Debut of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket now planned early next year
Artist’s illustration of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in flight. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to roll out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first time next month for a hold-down firing of its 27 Merlin main engines, but the mega-rocket’s inaugural test launch will slip into January,…
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Russian weather satellite and 18 secondary payloads lost after rocket failure
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifts off Tuesday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Credit: Roscosmos A new Russian weather observatory and the first prototype for Telesat’s planned network of 100-plus broadband communications satellites in low Earth orbit were among 19 spacecraft lost after a Fregat rocket stage ran into trouble soon after liftoff aboard…
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Soyuz rocket set for launch from Russia’s new cosmodrome
A Soyuz-2.1b rocket is set for launch at 0541:46 GMT (12:41:46 a.m. EST) Tuesday from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Credit: Roscosmos A Soyuz rocket is scheduled to lift off Tuesday from a launch pad in Russia’s Far East with a new Russian weather satellite and 18 secondary payloads from companies and institutions…
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Second Electron rocket shipped to New Zealand launch site
File photo of an Electron rocket. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s second flight-ready Electron rocket has arrived at its launch base in New Zealand for the company’s first mission to deliver commercial satellites into orbit. The launch is expected as soon as December, once engineers and technicians complete several weeks of testing on the rocket.…
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SpaceX delays launch to study data from recent payload fairing test
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Nov. 17. The Falcon 9 rocket with Zuma stands at pad 39A on Wednesday afternoon. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX has postponed its next launch from the Kennedy Space Center indefinitely to examine data from a recent payload fairing test for another customer. The company said in a statement Thursday that the…
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Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launch put on hold
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the Zuma payload for the U.S. government. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.
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Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launch put on hold
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the Zuma payload for the U.S. government. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.