Tag: Reusability
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SpaceX beats hurricane with smooth launch of military’s X-37B spaceplane
Credit: SpaceX Succeeding on a one-shot launch attempt before Hurricane Irma shuts down the Cape Canaveral spaceport, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into orbit Thursday with the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane, a reusable robotic mini-shuttle that could stay aloft for years with clandestine on-board experiments. Burning a super-chilled mixture of kerosene and liquid…
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4K video: Wide-angle view of Falcon 9 launch
Video credit: Spaceflight Now Watch a 4K video replay of Thursday’s Falcon 9 launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This view was recorded at the KSC press site around 3 miles from the launch pad. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket lifted off from pad 39A at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) with the U.S.…
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Photos: Military mini-shuttle transferred to SpaceX launch pad
Cocooned inside the nose cone of its Falcon 9 rocket booster, the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane journeyed from a former space shuttle hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, past the Vehicle Assembly Building and toward launch pad 39A last week ahead of liftoff Thursday. The miniature space shuttle, designed for robotic operations without a…
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SpaceX readies rocket to launch military spaceplane into orbit
Artist’s concept of the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane. Credit: Boeing With an eye on dangerous Hurricane Irma’s forecast path toward Florida, SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force are proceeding with preparations to launch an unpiloted reusable military spaceship Thursday on a mission to conduct experiments in orbit, deploy multiple small satellites and glide back…
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Falcon 9 rocket fired up for launch of military mini-shuttle
The Falcon 9 rocket fired its nine Merlin 1D engines at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT). Credit: William Harwood/CBS News Running through a practice countdown and hold-down engine firing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket passed a key checkpoint Thursday ahead of liftoff next week with the U.S. Air Force’s fifth…
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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…