Tag: Falcon 9
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SpaceX prepares for next two missions via McGregor testing
SpaceX’s rocket stages are deep into their test and processing flows, ahead of two missions currently set to take place in April. Both missions are at opposite ends of their test flows at SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas – with CRS-8 hardware set to depart for Florida while the Falcon 9 first stage tasked…
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SpaceX hopes to raise launch tempo after space station flight
File photo of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is targeting April 8 for the launch of its first resupply run to the International Space Station in nearly a year, a mission that the company hopes will mark the start of a rapid-fire launch manifest full of payloads waiting to fly. The early…
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Jason 3 satellite begins surveying world’s oceans
Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite mapping the ocean surface with its radar altimeter. Credit: NASA Two months after its foggy blastoff from California on a Falcon 9 rocket, a $364 million oceanography satellite has returned the first data from its radar altimeter mapping global sea levels, catching this year’s ongoing El Niño in the…
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SNC handover 11 OG2 satellites following in-orbit checkouts
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems has successfully completed all in-orbit checkout procedures for the final 11 satellites in the ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) constellation. The fleet of satellites were successfully launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket during her return to flight mission at the end of 2015. OG2: The satellites were designed and built…
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Photos: Sunset sendoff for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
A final set of photos shows Friday’s Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral with the SES 9 communications satellite. The 229-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, soaring east over the Atlantic Ocean about 10 minutes after sunset. Consuming a super-chilled mix of kerosene and…
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Photos: Falcon 9 takes off at sunset
A Falcon 9 launcher bolted into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, adding the brilliant orange glare of rocket exhaust to a spectacular sunset as the 229-foot-tall booster propelled the SES 9 communications satellite into orbit to serve the Asia-Pacific with high-definition television programming and connectivity on-the-go. SpaceX’s kerosene-fueled rocket fired up at…
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TV broadcasting satellite finally launched on Falcon 9
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT) Friday. Credit: SpaceX Powering off the planet just after sunset Friday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral with the multi-mission SES 9 communications satellite to link millions of homes, businesses, ships and airplanes across the Asia-Pacific. The commercial telecom…
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Photos: Sun sets on Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral
Check out photos of a picturesque sunset at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where a Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff with a commercial broadcasting satellite for Luxembourg-based SES. Photo credit: SpaceX Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
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Watch another view of the Falcon 9’s last-second abort
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket got within a second of liftoff Sunday before a low-thrust alarm triggered an automatic abort. Watch a view of the dramatic last-second countdown cutoff at engine ignition from our camera at the launch pad. Video credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
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With Russian launch grounded, Iridium flips order of satellite deployments
Artist’s concept of an Iridium Next satellite. Credit: Iridium Stymied by Russian government dithering that has indefinitely grounded a test launch on a modified Soviet-era missile, Iridium officials say that SpaceX agreed to move forward to July the first of seven Falcon 9 launches from California with the company’s next-generation mobile communications satellites. Iridium originally…