Tag: Falcon 9
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SpaceX launches two rockets—three hours apart—to close out a record year
It seems like SpaceX did everything this year but launch 100 times. On Thursday night, the launch company sent two more rockets into orbit from Florida. One was a Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket in commercial service, carrying the US military’s X-37B spaceplane from a launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at…
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SpaceX aces modern-day launch turnaround record with Falcon 9 Starlink mission
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the fog surrounding Space Launch Complex 40 on the Starlink 6-36 mission. This was the 72nd and final orbital launch of 2023 from the Cape. Image: Spaceflight Now SpaceX completed double-header launch night as the end of the year approached. A Falcon 9 rocket launched the Starlink 6-36…
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Historic SpaceX Falcon 9 booster topples over and is lost at sea
The remains of Falcon 9 booster 1058 arrive at Port Canaveral after the vehicle toppled over and broke apart in bad weather. Image: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now. A piece of America’s space history is now on the ocean’s floor. During its return voyage to Port Canaveral in Central Florida, a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage booster…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 first-stage booster on record-breaking 19th flight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches for a record-breaking 19th time, sending 23 Starlink satellites up to low Earth orbit. Image: Pete Carstens Update 1:06 a.m. EST: Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket confirmed. The booster, B1058, landed on the droneship several minutes after launch. SpaceX sent off a Falcon 9 first-stage booster for a…
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Launch Roundup: scrubs deny SpaceX its 100 Falcon launch goal; look to end the year with a 300th mission milestone
This week nearly saw two secret spaceplanes launched within days of each other. After ground systems concerns and then weather delays, the US Department of Defense’s X-37B vehicle had its OTV-7 launch on the Falcon Heavy USSF-52 mission scrubbed from its initial planned attempt on Dec. 11. Starlink Group 6-34 was also scrubbed that same…
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Launch Roundup: Rocket Lab returns to flight; SpaceX launches more Starlink
SpaceX had a lighter week of launches, with Rocket Lab, Russia, and China also launching rockets. Following several delays, SpaceX launched the Starlink Group 6-34 mission. Rocket Lab returned to flight on Friday with “The Moon God Awakens” mission. This comes after a previous mission, dubbed “We Will Never Desert You,” failed to reach orbit…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX continues toward 100 launch goal
As SpaceX continues toward its goal of launching 100 times in 2023, the company launched two Starlink missions this week — one from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida and the second from SLC-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California. Later in the…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky above Florida’s Space Coast amid the Starlink 6-31 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred…
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A bitter pill: Amazon calls on rival SpaceX to launch Internet satellites
Amazon announced Friday that it has purchased three Falcon 9 rocket launches from SpaceX beginning in mid-2025 to help deploy the retail giant’s network of Kuiper Internet satellites. In a statement, Amazon said the SpaceX launches will provide “additional capacity” to “supplement existing launch contracts to support Project Kuiper’s satellite deployment schedule.” SpaceX has its own…
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Team of rivals: Amazon makes a deal with SpaceX for three Kuiper satellite launches
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches a set of Starlink satellites on Nov. 27. Amazon has struck a deal to use Falcon 9 rockets for some of its Project Kuiper satellites as well. (SpaceX Photo) Amazon’s Project Kuiper may be a competitor for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband network, but business is business: Amazon says it has…