Tag: Falcon 9
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SpaceX to begin beta testing Direct-to-Cell Starlink satellites
SpaceX’s Starlink satellites have rapidly changed what was once believed to be impossible regarding satellite internet connectivity. The vast Starlink constellation has already connected people worldwide to the knowledge that the internet offers. SpaceX is now preparing to expand Starlink’s reach by beta testing Direct-to-Cell (DTC) Starlink satellites, which will connect mobile phones to cellular…
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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the pad at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to begin the Starlink 13-1 mission on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX launched its latest batch of Starlink satellites for its internet megaconstellation shortly after midnight on Tuesday. However, there may have…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX returns to launching Starlink following Starship launch
With the dust settling following the launches of Blue Origin’s New Glenn and SpaceX’s Starship last week and two consequential mishap investigations underway, business returns to usual this week. SpaceX missions dominated the week, with four SpaceX Starlink launches. SpaceX continues its drive to launch approximately 7,500 v2 Mini Starlink satellites into orbit. At the…
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SpaceX completes 400th Falcon booster landing on mission featuring 27 Starlink satellites
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 first stage booster, tail number B1082, touches down on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You,’ a little more than eight minutes after liftoff. This was the 400th landing of an orbital class booster. Image: SpaceX Update 11:44 a.m. EST (1644 UTC): SpaceX landed the first stage booster on the droneship.…
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Two lunar landers are on the way to the Moon after SpaceX’s double moonshot
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida early Wednesday and deployed two commercial lunar landers on separate trajectories to reach the Moon in the next few months. The mission began with a middle-of-the-night launch from Kennedy at 1:11 am EST (06:11 UTC) Wednesday. It took about an hour…
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American, Japanese robotic landers share rocket launch to the Moon
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander pictured atop a bespoke payload canister, which encased ispace’s Resilience lunar lander prior to encapsulation inside SpaceX’s Falcon 9 payload fairings. Image: SpaceX For the first time in lunar exploration, two robotic landers, from two different nations launched to the Moon on one rocket. But despite Texas-based Firefly Aerospace…
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SpaceX is superb at reusing boosters, but how about building upper stages?
On any given day, SpaceX is probably launching a Falcon 9 rocket, rolling one out to the launch pad or bringing one back into port. With three active Falcon 9 launch pads and an increasing cadence at the Starbase facility in Texas, SpaceX’s teams are often doing all three. The company achieved another milestone Friday…
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SpaceX Transporter-12 launches more than 100 satellites
On Tuesday, January 14 at 11:09 AM PST (19:09 UTC) SpaceX launched the Transporter-12 rideshare mission from launch complex SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, deploying more than 100 satellites into orbit. The launch vehicle’s booster returned to land at Vandenberg. Deployment of payloads from the second stage to Sun-synchronous orbits (SSO) at altitudes of…
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Falcon 9 launches two landers to the Moon on the same mission
SpaceX launched not one but two lunar landers to the Moon on the same mission, on the 100th launch from the same pad where the Apollo 11 crew launched to the Moon. A Falcon 9 successfully lifted off during an instantaneous window on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 1:11 AM EST (06:11 UTC) from Launch Complex…
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SpaceX launches 131 spacecraft on Transporter-12 Falcon 9 rideshare mission from California
A Falcon 9 rocket roars away from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Jan. 14, 2025, on the Transporter 12 mission. Image: Space X. SpaceX launched 131 payloads Tuesday onboard the company’s 12th smallsat rideshare mission to date. The Transporter-12 mission flew onboard a Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force…