Tag: Falcon 9
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Falcon 9 rocket rumbles through pre-flight engine firing
File photo of a static fire test before a previous Falcon 9 launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX technicians planned to connect a Japanese communications satellite to the tip of a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Thursday, eyeing a launch from Cape Canaveral just after midnight Sunday. Fixed on top of Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch…
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SpaceX shares eye-catching slow-mo rocket footage
SpaceX has released a new YouTube video showing up-close, slow-motion views of recent Falcon 9 rocket launches and landings at Cape Canaveral, and it’s something you want to see. The views were recorded by high-speed cameras at Cape Canaveral and edited into a video accompanied by music. The imagery sequence begins with zoomed-in views of…
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SpaceX conducts static fire test on JCSAT-16’s Falcon 9
Preparations for SpaceX’s next launch completed a major milestone late on Wednesday, via the Static Fire test of the Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 pad. This latest Falcon 9 is tasked with lofting the JCSAT-16 satellite into its Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GEO) on August 14, once again involving the first stage making a landing…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets preparing for JCSAT-16 and Amos-6 launches
SpaceX is lining up its next two missions, with Falcon 9 hardware currently in pre-launch preparations for launch. In Florida, the Falcon 9 tasked with the JCSAT-16 launch is preparing for a Static Fire test on August 10, while at SpaceX’s test center in Texas, the Amos-6 first stage has been static fired on the…
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First two Iridium Next satellites shipped to Vandenberg
Technicians load the first two Iridium Next satellites into their shipping containers at Orbital ATK’s manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona. Credit: Iridium The first two next-generation Iridium satellites, designed to connect global subscribers with data and voice traffic, arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Tuesday, where they will join eight more message relay craft…
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NASA orders second SpaceX crew ferry ship
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of a SpaceX Crew Dragon on final approach to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX NASA has ordered a second commercial crew ferry ship from SpaceX, NASA announced Friday, as the agency continues its on-going push to develop U.S.-built spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from…
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SpaceX fires previously-flown rocket in major stride toward reusability
Throttling up to more than a million pounds of thrust at SpaceX’s Central Texas test facility, a Falcon 9 rocket booster recovered after a commercial satellite launch in May passed a key milestone Thursday as the company sets its sights on re-flying a used first stage on a mission this fall. Nine Merlin 1D engines…
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SpaceX test fires returned Falcon 9 booster at McGregor
A returned Falcon 9 first stage has been test fired at SpaceX’s McGregor test center, in what is the start of a series of firings. As of late August, several firings have taken place. F9-S1-0024 returned home after helping push JCSAT-14 uphill earlier this year, prior to landing on the ASDS located in the Atlantic…
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Gallery of photos from Monday’s Falcon 9 flight
Taking off and landing in the middle of the night at Cape Canaveral, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully delivered a Dragon supply ship to orbit for the International Space Station as the launcher’s first stage booster swooped to a spectacular touchdown. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 12:45:29 a.m. EDT (0445:29…
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SpaceX sends supplies to space station, lands another Falcon rocket
In this long exposure photo, the Falcon 9 rocket streaks away from the Complex 40 launch pad at left, then its first stage booster returns to landing at right a few miles away. Credit: SpaceX Rising into a midnight sky lit by the full moon, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral…