Tag: Falcon launch
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SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink internet satellites — and hits reusability milestones
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its launch pad, sending 60 satellites into orbit. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX sent its second set of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit today, atop a Falcon 9 rocket that featured the fourth go-round for the first-stage booster and the first reuse of a nose cone. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral…
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Blue Origin protests launch contract rules as it competes with SpaceX, ULA, Northrop Grumman
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s future New Glenn rocket, which is currently due to have its first flight in 2021. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is protesting the rules of the game for awarding future national security launch contracts, while continuing to play against SpaceX, United Launch Alliance…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches Dragon cargo capsule to slime the space station
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX has launched the same robotic Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station for a third time, sending about 5,000 pounds of cargo that includes a bag of goopy green slime. The slime, provided by Nickelodeon, will be used on…
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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket puts a solar sail and scads of other experiments in orbit
Launch pad video shows the Falcon Heavy liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket had its first night launch tonight, sending 24 different spacecraft toward three different types of orbit to test a wide range of technologies. The triple-barreled rocket rose into the sky from Launch Complex 39A at…
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SpaceX launches Radarsat constellation, with booster returning for foggy landing
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises above the fog surrounding California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, sending three Canadian radar-sensing satellites spaceward. (SpaceX via YouTube) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rose out of California’s coastal fog today to send three radar-sensing satellites into orbit for the Canadian government. Little could be seen from the ground when the…
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket deals out a deck of 60 Starlink internet satellites
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 60 Starlink satellites packed in its nose cone. (Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Photo via Twitter) After two postponements, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket executed a mission that dealt out 60 Starlink broadband data satellites into low Earth orbit. The…
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SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy center core booster falls over on ship amid heavy seas
The Falcon Heavy center core booster lands on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (SpaceX via YouTube) Mother Nature has splashed cold water over SpaceX’s triumphant triple booster landing in the wake of last week’s Falcon Heavy rocket launch. Literally. After sending the Arabsat-6 telecommunications satellite on the first leg of its journey to…
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SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship makes maiden flight with robo-rider named Ripley
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending its first Crew Dragon spaceship skyward with a spacesuit-wearing mannequin seated inside. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX’s Crew Dragon was sent into space atop a Falcon 9 rocket tonight, beginning a crucial test of a spaceship that’s destined to carry NASA astronauts to…
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‘Big step for Israel’: SpaceX launches lunar lander along with high-flying satellites
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches Indonesia’s Nusantara Satu telecommunications satellite as well as the Israeli Beresheet lunar lander and an Air Force research satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (SpaceX via YouTube) A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sent the Israeli-made Beresheet lunar lander on the first leg of its journey to the…
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SpaceX launches final batch of Iridium telecom satellites (and lands rocket)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base, carrying 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket deployed the eighth and final set of next-generation Iridium satellites into orbit today, closing off a two-year launch campaign. The rocket rose into partly cloudy skies from California’s Vandenberg…