Tag: Falcon 9
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Rocket Report: China leaps into rocket reuse; 19 people are currently in orbit
Welcome to Edition 7.11 of the Rocket Report! Outside of companies owned by American billionaires, the most imminent advancements in reusable rockets are coming from China’s quasi-commercial launch industry. This industry is no longer nascent. After initially relying on solid-fueled rocket motors apparently derived from Chinese military missiles, China’s privately funded launch firms are testing…
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SpaceX launches five BlueBird satellites on Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral
Update: The Falcon 9 lifted off on time and successfully deployed the five BlueBird satellites. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the first five of AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird satellites from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch five of AST SpaceMobile’s…
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Polaris Dawn takes to the skies, setting the stage for a daring private spacewalk
A Falcon 9 rocket streaked into the black predawn sky above Florida on Tuesday, carrying four people on the most ambitious private human spaceflight to date. The crew of the Polaris Dawn mission, led by a billionaire pilot named Jared Isaacman, were injected into an orbit intended to reach an apogee of 1,200 km and…
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Launch Roundup: Polaris Dawn, ISS crewed launch headline busy week
This week’s manifest features four Falcon 9 launches, including the highly anticipated Polaris Dawn crewed mission, a mission carrying AST SpaceMobile’s first five cellphone-compatible broadband satellites, and the delayed launch of two more satellites for Europe’s mid-Earth orbit Galileo constellation. Additionally, Roscosmos has launched the Soyuz MS-26 crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).…
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SpaceX launches historic Polaris Dawn mission
SpaceX has launched a mission that will not only see humans travel the farthest away from Earth since Apollo 17 in 1972 but also conduct the first-ever commercial spacewalk. This is in addition to nearly 40 different science experiments and an attempt to transmit data from space through the Starlink network. The Polaris Dawn mission,…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket on national security mission for the NRO
A Falcon 9 lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Station in California on the NROL-113 mission. Image: SpaceX. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with an undisclosed number of satellites on behalf of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The spacecraft, which are believed to be Starshield satellites, make up the third batch of what the…
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SpaceX launches 7,000th Starlink satellite to date on Falcon 9 flight from Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 8-11 mission on Sept. 5, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 1:12 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirmed deployment of the 21 Starlink satellites. SpaceX managed to find good enough weather to launch its 85th Falcon 9 rocket…
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Launch Roundup: Vega retired after final launch; Polaris Dawn lift off
This week, rockets will launch from all over the globe. China’s CASC sent a Chang Zheng 4B on its 50th successful mission to start the week. The final launch of Arianespace’s Vega rocket went off without a hitch. Polaris Dawn launched four private astronauts to low-Earth orbit, during which the world’s first private EVA out…
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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 return to flight mission
A Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the skies above Florida’s Space Coast during the Starlink 8-10 mission. This was SpaceX’s return to flight mission, following a failed booster landing on Wednesday. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now Update 4:04 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed its first stage booster on its droneship, ‘Just Read the…
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SpaceX set a launch turnaround record with back-to-back, coast-to-coast Falcon 9 launches
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX Update 5:06 a.m. EDT: SpaceX launched the mission and landed B1081 on the droneship, ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’ Following its second return to flight mission in as many months with a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX proceeded to set a…