Tag: commercial-space
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Starlink ‘train’ traces path across twilight skies
This view of the train of 60 Starlink satellites was captured Nov. 11 from Castaic, California. This view was created by merging four long exposure images. Credit: William G. Hartenstein The 60 Starlink satellites deployed Monday by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket have traced paths across twilight skies around the world this week, but their…
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Two Chinese satellite launchers lift off three hours apart
A solid-fueled Kuaizhou 1A rocket launched from the Jiuquan space base in northwestern China’s Inner Mongolia region at 0340 GMT Wednesday (10:40 p.m. EST Tuesday). Credit: Xinhua Chinese rockets performed two satellite delivery missions in a three-hour span Wednesday, carrying a commercial Earth-imaging satellite and five mysterious surveillance payloads into orbit. The launches originated from…
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SpaceX fires up Crew Dragon thrusters in key test after April explosion
Eight SuperDraco thrusters fired during a ground test Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX test-fired the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s eight SuperDraco abort engines Wednesday at Cape Canaveral, paving the way for a high-altitude rocket escape test and demonstrating engineers have apparently fixed the problem that triggered an explosion during a similar…
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Photos: Falcon 9 launches with 60 Starlink satellites
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the heaviest payload ever launched by SpaceX took off Monday morning from Cape Canaveral with 60 satellites for then company’s Starlink broadband network. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket lifted off at 9:56 a.m. EST (1456 GMT) Monday, powered by nine Merlin 1D engines generating 1.7 million pounds of thrust. The kerosene-burning…
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Video: Crew Dragon tests abort thrusters at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the SuperDraco abort thrusters on the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft Wednesday afternoon at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The test-firing occurred at approximately 3:08 p.m. EST (2008 GMT) Wednesday on a test stand at Landing Zone 1, the site where SpaceX lands Falcon 9 rocket boosters for reuse.…
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SpaceX executes ground-based test firing for Crew Dragon’s launch escape system
Thrusters blaze during a static-fire test of the launch abort system on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. (SpaceX via Twitter) SpaceX went the distance today with a static-fire test of its Crew Dragon space taxi’s launch escape system — the same type of test that ended in a costly explosion when it was conducted in April.…
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OneWeb’s first full-up launch delayed to January
A series of Soyuz rocket launches from up to three locations — French Guiana, Kazakhstan and Russia — will deploy OneWeb’s satellites in orbit. Credit: OneWeb The first Soyuz launch from Kazakhstan carrying a full load of more than 30 Florida-built satellites for OneWeb’s broadband Internet network has slipped from December to mid-to-late January, OneWeb…
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Successful launch continues deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink network
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral at 9:56 a.m. EST (1456 GMT) Monday. Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Sixty upgraded satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network rocketed into orbit Monday from Florida’s Space Coast, debuting performance enhancements and notching new firsts in SpaceX’s list of rocket reuse accomplishments. SpaceX’s second batch of Starlink…
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Photos: Centaur upper stage hoisted atop Atlas 5 rocket for Starliner launch
United Launch Alliance teams at Cape Canaveral hoisted a Centaur upper stage on top of an Atlas 5 rocket Friday at launch pad 41, completing the initial build-up of the launch vehicle slated to carry Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule into space in December on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. The dual-engine…
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SpaceX readies upgraded Starlink satellites for launch
Artist’s illustration of a Starlink satellite. Credit: SpaceX New satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network set for launch Monday from Cape Canaveral will debut several performance and safety upgrades, but they do not include changes to reduce the brightness of the satellites, a modification SpaceX says it will introduce on future Starlink craft to mitigate their…