Tag: Falcon Heavy
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Falcon 9 could launch again in November, Falcon Heavy debut slips to 2017
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, zoomed in on the rocket’s interstage and second stage. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX hopes to resume launches in November as the company continues its investigation into a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion to determine whether the accident originated on the Falcon 9 rocket or ground systems,…
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Falcon 9 could launch again in November, Falcon Heavy debut slips to 2017
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, zoomed in on the rocket’s interstage and second stage. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX hopes to resume launches in November as the company continues its investigation into a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion to determine whether the accident originated on the Falcon 9 rocket or ground systems,…
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SpaceX looks to historic Pad 39A for Falcon 9 flight operations
Following the loss of its Falcon 9 rocket during a static fire test, SpaceX is deep into a failure investigation process, which includes an assessment of the damage suffered by SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral. With that pad likely to be out of action for some time, SpaceX is turning its attention next door, to…
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SpaceX looks to future with new pad, USAF contract, and boost for Falcon
Following a banner week for what was once the new kid on the block, SpaceX has secured a coveted US Air Force launch contract in the same week the company announced a joint venture with NASA to send its Red Dragon human rated spacecraft to Mars in 2018 while also announcing new maximum performance margins…
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SpaceX undecided on payload for first Falcon Heavy flight
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. Credit: SpaceX As SpaceX engineers put together the first model of the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket, officials have not ruled out flying a paying customer’s satellite aboard the maiden flight of the humongous launcher scheduled later this year, the company’s president told Spaceflight Now. The long-awaited Falcon Heavy rocket…
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SpaceX announces plan to send mission to Mars in 2018
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Red Dragon spacecraft landing on Mars. Credit: SpaceX Elon Musk’s space transport company — chartered with a long-term goal of colonizing Mars — plans to send the first commercial mission to the red planet as soon as 2018 with assistance from NASA, SpaceX announced Wednesday. Measuring about 20 feet tall and…
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Telesat launch agreements awarded to SpaceX
Updated Feb. 29 with confirmation Telstar 18V and 19V will launch on Falcon 9s. File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Credit: SpaceX The Canadian telecom satellite operator Telesat plans to launch two multipurpose communications spacecraft aboard SpaceX Falcon rockets in 2018, the company disclosed this week in a quarterly earnings announcement. A…
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ViaSat trades in Falcon Heavy launch for Ariane 5
Artist’s concept of a Falcon Heavy rocket at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: SpaceX Delays in the debut of SpaceX’s huge Falcon Heavy rocket have prompted ViaSat to move the launch of a high-speed Internet communications satellite from the new privately-developed booster to an Ariane 5 flight in early…
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Canaveral and KSC pads: New designs for space access
For the past several years, the historic launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, have undergone sweeping changes as the conclusion of the Space Shuttle program brought a new vision to the spaceport. Those changes have now spread across the lagoon to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where pad modifications are underway for…
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First flight of Falcon Heavy delayed again
Artist’s concept of the Falcon Heavy rocket, which will lift off powered by 27 Merlin main engines, generating nearly 4 million pounds of thrust. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX has slowed development of the Falcon Heavy rocket, a mega-booster made of three Falcon 9 booster cores strapped together, as the company recovers from a launch failure last…