Tag: commercial-space
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Falcon 9 rocket engines test-fired in advance of Monday launch
A plume of exhaust and steam appears from the base of the Falcon 9 rocket Thursday during a hold-down engine firing. Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Moving closer toward launch Monday with a South Korean communications satellite, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin main engines Thursday on a launch pad in Florida in…
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Live coverage: SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket test-fired in Florida
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the next Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch the Koreasat 5A communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
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Video: Falcon 9 rocket completes static fire test ahead of South Korean satellite launch
SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket ignited its nine Merlin engines at Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A Thursday in a customary pre-flight test ahead of the company’s next mission, slated for Monday with a commercial South Korean-owned communications satellite. The Merlin 1D engines fired at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Thursday as hold-down restraints kept…
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Israel’s Spacecom books launch with SpaceX using pre-paid Amos 6 credits
Artist’s concept of the Amos 17 satellite. Credit: Boeing The Israeli satellite operator Spacecom has tapped a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver its next geostationary communications satellite to orbit in 2019 using approximately $50 million in credits the company paid SpaceX for a mission last year that ended in an explosion on the launch pad.…
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World’s largest methane-fueled rocket engine test-fired by Blue Origin
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) with ULA statement. First hotfire of our BE-4 engine is a success #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/xuotdzfDjF — Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 19, 2017 Blue Origin has conducted the first hotfire test of its BE-4 rocket engine in West Texas, a powerplant fueled by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen…
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Iridium swaps two new Falcon 9 rockets for “flight-proven” boosters
A Falcon 9 first stage lands on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean in June following a liftoff with Iridium satellites. Credit: SpaceX Citing schedule concerns over price benefits, Iridium announced Thursday it will launch its next 20 satellites on a pair of previously-flown Falcon 9 boosters from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California,…
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Blue Origin space venture fires up BE-4 rocket engine, marking a win for Jeff Bezos
Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine blasts through its initial hot-fire test. (Blue Origin Photo) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture says it has successfully test-fired its BE-4 rocket engine, marking a key step in the development of its own New Glenn rocket as well as United Launch Alliance’s next-generation rocket. Billions of dollars…
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Elon Musk will chat about his big rocket plans with SpaceX fans on Reddit
An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s BFR launch vehicle blasting off from a floating pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) Two weeks after SpaceX founder Elon Musk updated his vision for a monster rocket designed to take settlers to the moon and Mars, he’s taking questions from his fans today during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session. Musk says…
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Regulatory filings suggest SpaceX plans November launch with mystery payload
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at launch pad 39A in Florida. Credit: SpaceX Information found in federal regulatory filings suggests SpaceX plans to conduct a Falcon 9 rocket launch as soon as mid-November with an unidentified payload that has so far escaped public disclosure. It is unusual for such a mission to…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at twilight
Launching into a clear autumn sky at sunset, a Falcon 9 rocket took off Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and delivered the SES 11/EchoStar 105 communications satellite to orbit. These photos show the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) launcher’s climb away from pad 39A at the Florida spaceport. Liftoff occurred at 6:53 p.m. EDT (2253…