Tag: Reusability
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Video: SpaceX rocket runs through hotfire test at pad 39A
SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket ignited its Merlin main engines for several seconds Thursday at Kennedy Space Center’s pad 39A ahead of a planned launch next week. The Merlin 1D engines fired at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT), sending a plume of exhaust out the flame trench to the north of pad 39A. Liftoff is…
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Taiwanese satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit
The Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Thursday with Formosat 5. Credit: SpaceX Flying with an exceptionally lightweight payload, a Falcon 9 rocket delivered a multipurpose research satellite into a nearly 450-mile-high orbit Thursday for Taiwan following a smooth countdown and liftoff from California’s Central Coast. Weighing in at about a half-ton, or 475 kilograms, the…
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Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 launch and landing
Watch a replay of the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California carrying Taiwan’s Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite. The Falcon 9’s first stage booster successfully landed on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean and seconds later the satellite was released from the rocket’s second stage into orbit. Video: SpaceX
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Falcon 9 launch timeline with Formosat 5
Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Formosat 5 Earth observation satellite for Taiwan’s National Space Organization. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Saturday at 11:50 a.m. PDT (2:50 p.m. EDT; 1850 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Data source: SpaceX T-0:00:00: Liftoff After the…
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Falcon 9 rocket test-fired for California launch next week
The Falcon 9 rocket slated to launch Aug. 24 with the Formosat 5 satellite test-fires its nine main engines Saturday. Credit: SpaceX A commercial Falcon 9 rocket in the final stages of launch preparations fired its nine Merlin main engines Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, verifying its readiness for liftoff with a…
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SES agrees to launch another satellite on previously-flown Falcon 9 booster
A Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster lands at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 19 following a launch from nearby Kennedy Space Center with a space station cargo ship. Credit: SpaceX Six months after sending one of its communications satellites to orbit on the first re-flight of a SpaceX rocket, SES intends to…
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SpaceX rocket passes key preflight test before liftoff from California
The 10 Iridium Next communications satellites slated to launch Sunday from California were recently encapsulated inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload fairing. Credit: Iridium Juggling simultaneous launch campaigns on both coasts, a team of SpaceX engineers put a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary countdown rehearsal and hold-down firing Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base…
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U.S. Air Force taps SpaceX to launch next X-37B spaceplane mission
File photo of an X-37B spaceplane being encapsulated inside the nose cone of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket before its first test flight in April 2010. Credit. U.S. Air Force A month after an X-37B mini-space shuttle glided to a landing on Kennedy Space Center’s runway in Florida, the U.S. Air Force announced…
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AR1 engine clears milestone in step toward ending U.S. reliance on Russian propulsion
Aerojet Rocketdyne tests its AR1 engine preburner, which was built using a proprietary alloy and 3-D printing technology, at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne A rocket engine that could power United Launch Alliance’s next-generation rocket has passed a major design review, clearing the way for full-scale hotfire testing starting next year and certification…
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First core of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fired in Texas
The center section of SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket has been test-fired at the launch company’s test facility in Central Texas, a sign of progress toward the behemoth booster’s long-delayed maiden mission scheduled some time in the final months of 2017. The core stage is a modified version of the first stage that powers SpaceX’s…