Tag: Kennedy Space Center
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Watch Falcon 9 go upright on the launch pad in time lapse video
A Falcon 9 rocket is moved into the position for a static test firing of its nine Merlin 1D engines on March 27, 2017. This is second time this vehicle has stood on a launch pad in readiness for launch. It will be the first time SpaceX has reused a Falcon 9 first stage. This…
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Hotfire test completed ahead of milestone Falcon 9 launch Thursday
SpaceX tweeted this image of the Falcon 9 rocket conducting its static fire test at pad 39A on Monday afternoon. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX has set the first launch of a “flight-proven” Falcon 9 rocket for Thursday evening after running the booster through a hold-down engine firing Monday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Nearly…
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Live coverage: Reused Falcon 9 rocket prepared for launch
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the third Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the first to use a previously-flown Falcon first stage booster. The mission will launch the SES 10 communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page.…
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SES 10 telecom satellite fueled and readied for launch on reused rocket
SES 10 at its manufacturing site at Airbus Defense and Space in Toulouse, France. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space Launch preparations for the SES 10 communications satellite, the first spacecraft to ride a reused Falcon 9 booster to space, are on track for a late March blastoff from Florida, officials said. The satellite, designed to…
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Photos: EchoStar 23 takes flight on Falcon 9 rocket
The EchoStar 23 communications satellite, on the way to a 15-year service life broadcasting television signals, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 12,345-pound (5,600-kilogram) spacecraft took off at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) aboard the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 booster. Around 34…
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Photos: Falcon 9 flies off pad 39A
Climbing into a clear night sky, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into space early Thursday with the EchoStar 23 commercial communications satellite from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) booster took off at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) after delays caused by high winds. The U.S.-built, U.S.-owned EchoStar…
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Commercial TV broadcast satellite ready to ride Falcon 9 rocket
The EchoStar 23 satellite is seen inside SpaceX’s payload processing facility at Cape Canaveral after arriving at the launch base in November. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is expected to transfer its next Falcon 9 rocket to launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday with a direct-to-home television broadcast satellite on-board, setting…
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OneWeb to break ground on Florida factory, merge with Intelsat
Artist’s concept of the OneWeb factory at Exploration Park, Florida. Credit: OneWeb Days before breaking ground on a new spacecraft assembly line near Cape Canaveral, OneWeb and Intelsat announced a proposed merger Tuesday that would couple a planned fleet of 900 broadband Internet satellites with a high-power communications network in geostationary orbit. The “share-to-share” merger,…
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Auto-destruct system seen as a key to ramping up launch tempos
Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Scriptunas Images The U.S. Air Force says the demonstration of an automated safety system on last week’s Falcon 9 rocket launch will slash and costs and hasten turnarounds between missions from military-operated ranges in Florida and California. The on-board safety system, relying on Global Positioning System satellite navigation data, replaces…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket soars into overcast sky from pad 39A
Check out one more gallery of photos from Sunday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon rocket from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. These images show the Falcon 9 rocket’s preflight preparations at pad 39A, the final loading of the Dragon supply ship with time-sensitive cargo, and the lifting of the 213-foot-tall…