Tag: Falcon 9
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket awaits launch from Florida
SpaceX’s 20-story Falcon 9 rocket counts down to launch from Cape Canaveral on Monday with 2.2 tons of gear and experiments for the International Space Station. The 208-foot-tall launcher will blast off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 4:33 p.m. EDT (2033 GMT) to kick off a two-day pursuit of the space station…
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SpaceX drone ship in position for daring rocket landing
Updated April 14 with Musk’s comments, details SpaceX’s rocket landing platform — christened “Just Read the Instructions — is on location in the Atlantic Ocean for Monday’s launch. Credit: SpaceX Buoyed by lessons from past attempts and a forecast for calm seas, SpaceX engineers expect a good shot at landing a Falcon 9 booster on…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches CRS-6 Dragon en route to ISS
SpaceX successfully launched its seventh Dragon resupply mission en route to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, with the cargo craft lifting off from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, following a weather scrub on Monday. Bound for a five-week visit to the ISS, the CRS-6 Dragon departed the Cape at 16:10…
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Falcon 9 rocket fires engines for prelaunch test
File photo of a static fire test before a previous Falcon 9 launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX engineers ran through a customary prelaunch countdown test Saturday and fired the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine Merlin main engines at Cape Canaveral ahead of liftoff Monday with 2.2 tons of supplies and experiments for the International Space Station. The…
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SpaceX conducts tanking test on In-Flight Abort Falcon 9
As preparations continue for next week’s Falcon 9 launch of the CRS-6 Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX’s Vandenberg team has put the In-Flight abort booster through a tanking test. The unique Falcon 9 – sporting just three engines – will be tasked with lofting a Dragon 2 test vehicle into the Max-Drag region of…
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SpaceX on track for cargo launch Monday
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is prepared for launch Monday. Credit: SpaceX Weather forecasters will be on the lookout for rain showers and thunderstorms during Monday’s scheduled launch of a SpaceX cargo craft to the International Space Station, but there is a 60 percent chance conditions at Cape Canaveral will permit liftoff. SpaceX ground crews have mated…
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SpaceX preparing for a busy season of missions and test milestones
SpaceX is set for a salvo of events over the coming months, ranging from resupply runs to the International Space Station, to abort test objectives for its Dragon 2 program. The company envisions two launches of its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket in April, followed by a pad abort test in early May – all conducted…
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SpaceX cargo launch now set for April 13
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier prepared for launch on a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX The launch of SpaceX’s next resupply run to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for April 13, officials said Tuesday. The Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral was due for no earlier than…
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SpaceX swaps order of next two Falcon 9 launches
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral before a liftoff in April 2014. Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson Confronted with pesky problems in the Falcon 9 rocket’s helium pressurization system, SpaceX has shuffled the order of the next two launches, choosing to go ahead with the liftoff…
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Spaceport America set for SpaceX reusability testing
SpaceX’s reusability aspirations will receive further testing at Spaceport America, in the shape of the first successfully recovered Falcon 9 first stage. The New Mexico spaceport will host the recovered booster – potentially the core stage from the upcoming CRS-6 mission, if recovered – for an additional flight to find hardware limits, paving the way for…