Tag: Reusability
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Watch spectacular video of Monday’s Falcon 9 blastoff and landing
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from the historic seaside launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday and powered a classified NRO spy satellite into space, then the launcher’s first stage descended to a vertical landing at nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, producing spectacular video as the booster maneuvered in the…
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SpaceX launch scrubbed in final minute of countdown
A view of the Falcon 9 rocket at launch pad 39A just before Sunday’s launch attempt was scrubbed. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX scrubbed an attempt to launch a commercial Falcon 9 rocket Sunday less than a minute before liftoff, blaming a sensor issue on the vehicle’s first stage and pushing back the company’s first national security…
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SpaceX launch scrubbed in final minute of countdown
A view of the Falcon 9 rocket at launch pad 39A just before Sunday’s launch attempt was scrubbed. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX scrubbed an attempt to launch a commercial Falcon 9 rocket Sunday less than a minute before liftoff, blaming a sensor issue on the vehicle’s first stage and pushing back the company’s first national security…
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Falcon 9 flight timeline for NROL-76 mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning, but most of the launcher’s ascent into orbit will be under a news blackout at the request of the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive U.S. government intelligence agency whose mission is riding on the rocket. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised…
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Falcon 9 flight timeline for NROL-76 mission
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday morning, but most of the launcher’s ascent into orbit will be under a news blackout at the request of the National Reconnaissance Office, the secretive U.S. government intelligence agency whose mission is riding on the rocket. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket poised for first national security flight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being readied for launch with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office early Sunday, the commercial launcher’s 33rd overall flight, and first dedicated to a U.S. government national security mission. The two-stage rocket stood vertical on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday evening as…
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket poised for first national security flight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is being readied for launch with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office early Sunday, the commercial launcher’s 33rd overall flight, and first dedicated to a U.S. government national security mission. The two-stage rocket stood vertical on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday evening as…
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Falcon 9 rocket rolled to launch pad with classified payload
The Falcon 9 rocket slated to launch on SpaceX’s first national security mission is seen on launch pad 39A on Saturday morning. Credit: Spaceflight Now Working overnight on Florida’s Space Coast, SpaceX technicians transferred a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from the company’s commercial hangar a quarter-mile up the ramp to launch pad 39A early Saturday,…
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Weather looks good for Falcon 9 launch Sunday, but payload still a mystery
The National Reconnaissance Office has released its mission patch for Sunday’s launch. The NROL-76 mission patch “depicts Lewis and Clark heading into the great unknown to discover and explore the newly purchased Louisiana Territory,” the NRO said. Credit: NRO An official weather outlook issued by U.S. Air Force meteorologists Thursday calls for partly cloudy skies…
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SpaceX completes static fire test for Sunday launch of secret satellite
Nine Merlin engines at the base of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket fired up Tuesday on a launch pad in Florida, wringing out the booster and ground systems ahead of a planned liftoff Sunday with a top secret payload for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. The computer-controlled countdown sequencer oversaw filling of the two-stage…