Tag: Iridium
-
Skywatchers: Get your Iridium flare fix now
Updated after successful launch. File photo of an Iridium flare. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now The launch of the first batch of new-generation Iridium communications satellites Saturday marked the beginning of the end for the predictable, spectacular flares of reflected sunlight produced by the old-design craft, a favorite of amateur skywatchers for nearly two decades. Iridium…
-
Live coverage: SpaceX resumes launches from California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with 10 Iridium communications satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video coverage begins at approximately 12:20 p.m. EST (9:20 a.m. PST; 1720…
-
SpaceX returns to flight with Iridium satellite launch – and rocket landing!
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off for the first time in five months to put 10 advanced Iridium Next telecommunication sateliites in orbit – and demonstrate that the company’s innovative launch-and-landing system was back in stride. Cheers went up from a crowd of…
-
SpaceX resumes flights with on-target launch for Iridium
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California’s Central Coast at 9:54:39 a.m. PST (12:54:39 p.m. EST; 1754:39 GMT). Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket climbed into orbit from California’s Central Coast on Saturday, resuming service after an explosive setback last year and delivering much-needed reinforcements to Iridium’s satellite constellation providing communications by land, sea…
-
SpaceX Returns To Flight with Iridium NEXT launch – and landing
SpaceX returned its Falcon 9 rocket to flight Saturday with a mission that delivered ten Iridium NEXT communications satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff was on time at 09:54 local time (17:54 UTC) from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. SpaceX also successfully landed the first stage booster on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.…
-
Falcon 9 rocket ready for all-important return to service Saturday
The Falcon 9 rocket with 10 Iridium Next communications satellites inside SpaceX’s hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. SpaceX rolled a fully-assembled Falcon 9 booster out of its hangar and lifted it on top of a launch pad Friday for the first time since an explosion grounded the commercial rocket last year, setting the…
-
Timeline for Falcon 9 rocket’s launch of 10 Iridium satellites
Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the first 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Saturday at 9:54:39 a.m. PST (12:54:39 p.m. EST; 1754:39 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Data source: SpaceX T-0:00:00: Liftoff After…
-
Next SpaceX launch slipped to avoid stormy weather, range conflict
The mission patch for the first Falcon 9 launch for the Iridium Next satellite fleet shows the 10 satellites mounted on a special dispenser on the second stage, and the first stage descending to a vertical landing on a barge in the Pacific Ocean offshore California. Credit: SpaceX/Iridium Forecasters predict a rainy, breezy week along…
-
SpaceX delays launch due to weather
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Vandenberg Air Force Base before its launch in January 2016 to put NASA’s Jason-3 satellite into orbit. (SpaceX / NASA Photo) SpaceX has postponed the return to flight for its Falcon 9 rocket until Jan. 14 at the earliest, due to a gloomy weather forecast for the next…
-
Engine hotfire test completed for SpaceX’s first launch since explosion
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s launch team fueled up a Falcon 9 rocket on a California launch pad Thursday, fired the booster’s nine Merlin engines, and passed a key preflight test for the first time since a Falcon…