Tag: Reusability
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Falcon 9 launch timeline with JCSAT 16
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the JCSAT 16 communications satellite into orbit 32 minutes later. The 229-foot-tall rocket is poised for launch from Complex 40 at 1:26 a.m. EDT (0526 GMT) Sunday at the opening of a 120-minute…
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Ariane 6 rocket holding to schedule for 2020 maiden flight
Artist’s illustration of the Ariane 64 rocket version, with four solid rocket boosters. Credit: ESA–David Ducros, 2016 Europe’s top rocket contractor is pressing ahead with development of the Ariane 6 rocket, a versatile launcher with half the cost of Europe’s current Ariane 5 booster, keeping the new vehicle on track for its 2020 debut. The…
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Falcon 9 rocket rumbles through pre-flight engine firing
File photo of a static fire test before a previous Falcon 9 launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX technicians planned to connect a Japanese communications satellite to the tip of a Falcon 9 rocket as soon as Thursday, eyeing a launch from Cape Canaveral just after midnight Sunday. Fixed on top of Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch…
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SpaceX shares eye-catching slow-mo rocket footage
SpaceX has released a new YouTube video showing up-close, slow-motion views of recent Falcon 9 rocket launches and landings at Cape Canaveral, and it’s something you want to see. The views were recorded by high-speed cameras at Cape Canaveral and edited into a video accompanied by music. The imagery sequence begins with zoomed-in views of…
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SpaceX fires previously-flown rocket in major stride toward reusability
Throttling up to more than a million pounds of thrust at SpaceX’s Central Texas test facility, a Falcon 9 rocket booster recovered after a commercial satellite launch in May passed a key milestone Thursday as the company sets its sights on re-flying a used first stage on a mission this fall. Nine Merlin 1D engines…
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Gallery of photos from Monday’s Falcon 9 flight
Taking off and landing in the middle of the night at Cape Canaveral, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully delivered a Dragon supply ship to orbit for the International Space Station as the launcher’s first stage booster swooped to a spectacular touchdown. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 12:45:29 a.m. EDT (0445:29…
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Weather looks favorable for Falcon 9 launch and landing
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX Forecasters predict mostly clear skies and light winds at the surface and aloft for Monday’s launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, favorable conditions for the booster’s liftoff and landing…
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Blue Origin flies reusable suborbital rocket for fourth time
Updated at 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT) Sunday after successful flight. Blue Origin’s suborbital space transport system made another test flight Sunday, launching and landing at the company’s West Texas test facility to prove out the crew capsule’s resiliency to a parachute failure. The test flight also marked a change in public relations for the once-secretive…
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SpaceX’s latest booster back home as company mulls pricing, proof tests
A Falcon 9 first stage booster returned to Port Canaveral aboard SpaceX’s landing barge Thursday, six days after touching down following liftoff with the Thaicom 8 telecom satellite. Credit: SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket core recovered after last week’s launch of a Thai communications satellite returned to port in Florida on Thursday as SpaceX preps…
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Reusability success on Earth is the proving ground for Mars goals – SpaceX
SpaceX’s Lars Hoffman stated his company’s continued advancements with its reusability goals are not only focused on reducing launch costs, but are aimed at providing a technology roadmap for its Martian goals. As the latest recovered Falcon 9 first stage sailed into Port Canaveral, Mr. Hoffman stated the recovery achievements are providing the tools for…