Tag: Falcon Heavy
-
Blue Origin joins SpaceX and ULA in new round of military launch contracts
After years of lobbying, protests, and bidding, Jeff Bezos’s space company is now a military launch contractor. The US Space Force announced Thursday that Blue Origin will compete with United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for at least 30 military launch contracts over the next five years. These launch contracts have a combined value of up…
-
Blue Origin joins SpaceX and ULA in new round of military launch contracts
After years of lobbying, protests, and bidding, Jeff Bezos’s space company is now a military launch contractor. The US Space Force announced Thursday that Blue Origin will compete with United Launch Alliance and SpaceX for at least 30 military launch contracts over the next five years. These launch contracts have a combined value of up…
-
SpaceX experiences a rare mission scrub of its Falcon 9 rocket at the moment engine ignition
A rare abort of a Falcon 9 launch at the moment of engine ignition. The Starlink 10-2 mission was called off on its third launch attempt in as many days. Image: Spaceflight Now Update 5:40 p.m. EDT: SpaceX aborted the mission as the Falcon 9’s engines began to fire. SpaceX struck out for a third…
-
As Europa Clipper nears October launch date, scientists anticipate groundbreaking results
Later this year, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center with one of the most highly-anticipated and monumental planetary science missions of the decade — Europa Clipper. The mission will see the spacecraft travel to the smallest of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, Europa, to investigate the…
-
SpaceX begins 2024 with several record-breaking feats
SpaceX has kicked off 2024 breaking records and setting new standards for its operations. The Falcon family of rockets achieved 31 launches in the first quarter of the year putting the company on track to complete 125 launches by the end of 2024. SpaceX also debuted a new crew access tower for Dragon and launched…
-
Rocket Report: SpaceX’s record year; Firefly’s Alpha rocket falls short
Welcome to Edition 6.25 of the Rocket Report! We hope all our readers had a peaceful holiday break. While many of us were enjoying time off work, launch companies like SpaceX kept up the pace until the final days of 2023. Last year saw a record level of global launch activity, with 223 orbital launch…
-
SpaceX closes out record-breaking 2023, prepares for more records in 2024
SpaceX has closed out its most successful and record-breaking year yet. Its Falcon program broke several records for booster and fairing reuse, launch cadence, and tonnage to orbit. Alongside the Falcon program, the Dragon program sent more cargo and more people to orbit and it saw capsules pushing Dragon’s reusability records. The company also debuted…
-
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…
-
SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket, X-37B military spaceplane
A Falcon Heavy roars passed the Moon as it launches the X-37B for the U.S. military. Image: Michael Cain/Spaceflight Now. Buy Photo The second time was the charm for SpaceX as it was able to launch the X-37B military spaceplane onboard its Falcon Heavy rocket. Liftoff of the USSF-52 mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center…
-
Falcon Heavy launches USSF-52 spaceplane
As 2023 draws to a close, the US Department of Defense’s X-37B spaceplane returned to space on the OTV-7 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. USSF-52, the fifth Falcon Heavy flight of the year, and ninth overall, lifted off on Dec. 28 at 8:07 PM EST (01:07 UTC on Dec. 29). USSF-52 flew from…