Tag: Hans Koenigsmann
-
SpaceX says “heat damage” caused landing failure on recent Falcon 9 mission
A senior SpaceX official said this week that “heat damage” led to the failure of a Falcon 9 booster during a landing attempt Feb. 15, but the company will press on with more launches and will likely surpass the 10-flight threshold on one of its reusable rockets soon. The next Falcon 9 launch, using a…
-
SpaceX traces engine problem to blocked valve ahead of November crew launch
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, pilot Victor Glover, commander Mike Hopkins, and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi are preparing to fly on SpaceX’s Crew-1 mission to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is replacing two engines on the Falcon 9 booster set to launch four astronauts next month on the company’s first operational Crew Dragon…
-
SpaceX’s next launch to mark another incremental step in rocket reusability
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returning to Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX next mission, slated to carry the company’s second set of Starlink broadband satellites into orbit, will be the first to fly with a reused Falcon 9 booster making its fourth launch when…
-
SpaceX points to leaky valve as culprit in Crew Dragon test accident
A prototype of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule completed a pad abort test at Cape Canaveral in May 2015. Credit: SpaceX Investigators believe a leak of propellant inside the Crew Dragon spacecraft’s propulsion system led to the capsule’s explosion April 20 during a ground test at Cape Canaveral, and a senior SpaceX official said Monday that…
-
SpaceX launch Monday will signify a new advance in reusing rockets
EDITOR’S NOTE: SpaceX announced early Sunday that the SSO-A launch has been delayed to Monday to allow additional inspections on the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage. The rocket set to launch the Spaceflight SSO-A rideshare mission Monday previously flew twice — on May 11 from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, and on Aug. 7…
-
SpaceX ready to return to the space station
A Falcon 9 rocket sits on its launch pad this week awaiting liftoff Friday at 2043 GMT (4:43 p.m. EDT). Credit: SpaceX Ground crews loaded time-critical experiments, including 20 mice to help scientists study muscle atrophy, into SpaceX’s commercial Dragon cargo capsule Thursday, a day before a launch planned from Cape Canaveral toward the International…