Tag: Reusability
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Falcon Heavy’s first national security launch slips to October
The second launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in April 2019. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket has been delayed from July to October to await the readiness of its U.S. military payload, and the following Falcon Heavy flight has been rescheduled from late…
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SpaceX outlines plans for Starship orbital test flight
Artist’s concept of a Super Heavy booster and Starship vehicle stacked together during launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX has revealed the flight plan for the first orbital test launch of the company’s huge stainless steel Starship rocket, a 90-minute, around-the-world mission that will originate from South Texas and culminate with a controlled re-entry and splashdown in…
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Upgraded Starship prototype makes first soft landing after test flight
SpaceX launched and landed an upgraded prototype for the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle in South Texas on Wednesday, the company’s first Starship test flight since winning a $2.9 billion NASA contract to use the craft to land astronauts on the Moon. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO tweeted: “Starship landing nominal!” The 164-foot-tall (50-meter)…
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SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink spacecraft; FCC clears SpaceX to fly satellites at lower altitudes
SpaceX deployed 60 more Starlink internet-beaming spacecraft into orbit after a fiery late-night blastoff of a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday night from Cape Canaveral, surpassing the 1,500-satellite mark since Starlink launches began. Another Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to haul the next batch of Starlink satellites to space next week. The launch of the…
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SpaceX to resume Starlink flights, stretching reused Falcon rockets to their limits
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 40 Tuesday at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The scorched first stage booster has flown to space and back six times. Credit: Steven Young / Spaceflight Now SpaceX aims to resume launching satellites for its Starlink internet network with the liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday…
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April 12 marks 60 years since Gagarin’s spaceflight, 40 years since shuttle debut
Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin before launch April 12, 1961. Credit: Roscosmos Sixty years ago Monday, a 27-year-old Russian test pilot named Yuri Gagarin strapped into a Vostok capsule in Central Asia and rode into orbit atop a launcher derived from a Soviet nuclear missile, becoming the first human to travel into the void of space. Twenty…
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SpaceX launches its 100th mission from Florida’s Space Coast
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 12:34 p.m. EDT (1634 GMT) Wednesday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Credit: SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral Wednesday with another batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites, achieving success on SpaceX’s 100th mission to launch from Florida’s Space Coast and…
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SpaceX going for its 10th satellite launch of the year Wednesday
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on pad 40 before a launch last month. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now SpaceX teams at Cape Canaveral are readying for the company’s 10th Falcon 9 rocket launch of the year Wednesday, another flight devoted to delivering satellites to orbit for the Starlink internet network. Like seven of the…
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SpaceX nails Starship landing, but rocket explodes minutes later
The latest prototype of SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle — Starship SN10 — took off from the company’s South Texas test site and flew to an altitude of more than 30,000 feet Wednesday, then descended to a controlled vertical landing after two previous test vehicles crashed at touchdown. Minutes later, the 16-story test rocket exploded in…
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SpaceX successfully deploys 60 Starlink satellites, but loses booster on descent
A Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:59 p.m. EST Monday (0359 GMT Tuesday) with 60 more Starlink internet satellites. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now SpaceX successfully launched 60 more Starlink internet satellites Monday night from Cape Canaveral, but lost the Falcon 9 rocket’s reusable first stage booster…