Tag: Falcon 9
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A historic Falcon 9 made a little more history Friday night
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—In three-and-a-half years of service, one of SpaceX’s reusable Falcon 9 boosters stands apart from the rest of the company’s rocket inventory. This booster, designated with the serial number B1058, has now flown 18 times. For its maiden launch on May 30, 2020, the rocket propelled NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken…
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Rocket Report: China launches 3-man crew; SpaceX adds to busy manifest
Welcome to Edition 6.17 of the Rocket Report! Two Asian powers notched achievements in their human spaceflight programs this week. In China, three astronauts launched to begin a six-month expedition on the Tiangong space station. With this mission, China is settling into a routine of operations on the Tiangong complex. Elsewhere in Asia, India took…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX surpasses 5,000 active Starlink satellites and sets booster reuse record
The week of Oct. 23 through Oct. 29 has been a big one for low-Earth orbit (LEO) with all but one flight headed to already existing constellations. This includes two Falcon 9 launches on opposite sides of the country, one Russian Soyuz 2.1b launch, and two different launches planned out of China, one involving humans.…
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Next year, SpaceX aims to average one launch every 2.5 days
Earlier this week, SpaceX launched for the 75th time this year, continuing a flight cadence that should see the company come close to 100 missions by the end of December. SpaceX plans to kick its launch rate into a higher gear in 2024. This will be largely driven by launches of upgraded Starlink satellites with…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 6-24 mission. Onboard were 23 Starlink satellites heading up to low Earth orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein Update 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 UTC): The Falcon 9 rocket launched on the first launch opportunity of the evening. SpaceX aced its second launch of the…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
A Falcon 9 rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the Starlink 6-24 mission. Onboard were 23 Starlink satellites heading up to low Earth orbit. Image: Adam Bernstein Update 10:17 p.m. EDT (0217 UTC): The Falcon 9 rocket launched on the first launch opportunity of the evening. SpaceX aced its second launch of the…
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Citing slow Starship reviews, SpaceX urges FAA to double licensing staff
In a remarkably frank discussion this week, several senior SpaceX officials spoke with Ars Technica on background about how working with the Federal Aviation Administration has slowed down the company’s progress not just on development of the Starship program, but on innovations with the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs as well. The SpaceX officials said…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX to launch three Starlink missions; India to test crew abort system
Another busy period in spaceflight is underway with three Falcon 9 rockets with Starlink payloads and the first test flight of India’s Gaganyaan crew-capable spacecraft. Starlink 6-23 flew – ahead of 6-24 – from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) in Florida, while Starlink 7-5 flew out of SLC-4E…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites on its second Friday launch
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink satellites, delayed by upper level winds and held up for the Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Psyche, launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:01 p.m. EDT (2301 UTC) Friday night. The U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, based at Cape Canaveral,…
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Strong winds stymie back-to-back SpaceX launch plans; Vandenberg launch successful
Update 4 a.m. EDT: A Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, at 12:43 a.m. PDT (0743 UTC). Its first stage booster, making its 14th flight, landed successfully on a drone ship in the Pacific. Upper level winds forced SpaceX to scrub the Starlink 6-22 mission from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX was hoping…