Tag: Space Systems/Loral
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SpaceX conducts hotfire test for another middle-of-the-night launch
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Aug. 3 with confirmation the Merah Putih mission will use a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster. Credit: Ken Kremer / kenkremer.com / spaceupclose.com Gearing up for the third Falcon 9 launch in less than two-and-a-half weeks, SpaceX fired up a rocket booster at Cape Canaveral on Thursday ahead of an early morning launch…
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Video: Falcon 9 lifts off with Telstar 19 VANTAGE
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed away from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, and its first stage booster returned to a drone ship parked in the Atlantic Ocean after sending a heavyweight commercial communications satellite toward orbit for Telesat. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket lifted off at 1:50 a.m. EDT (0550 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex…
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SpaceX delivers for Telesat with successful early morning launch
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated July 23 with orbital parameters. A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 1:50 a.m. EDT (0550 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX An upgraded model of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fired into orbit early Sunday from Florida’s Space Coast, hoisting a record-setting 7.8-ton (nearly 7.1-metric ton) communications satellite for Telesat toward…
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Record-setting commercial satellite awaits blastoff from Cape Canaveral
The Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite is tested at SSL’s compact antenna test range. Credit: SSL A huge U.S.-built, Canadian-owned communications satellite weighing 15,600 pounds, the heaviest spacecraft of its kind ever launched, is mounted to a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff early Sunday from Cape Canaveral on a heavy-lifting mission that previously would have…
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Video: SpaceX rocket lights engines in pre-flight test
Video credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Passing a major pre-flight milestone ahead of a launch and landing planned early Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited its main engines Wednesday for a hold-down firing at Cape Canaveral. The static fire test occurred at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) on Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, with…
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Falcon 9 rocket test-fired for weekend launch
A plume of exhaust rises from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad after ignition of the Falcon 9 rocket’s main engines during a static fire test Wednesday. Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now Nine Merlin engines on the first stage of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket briefly fired up on a Cape Canaveral launch pad Wednesday, and…
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Live coverage: SpaceX’s second upgraded “Block 5” booster test-fired in Florida
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad with the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Spaceflight Now Members can watch a live view of the launch pad. Become a member and support our coverage. Follow us on Twitter.
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DigitalGlobe books two launches with SpaceX for Earth-imaging fleet
Artist’s illustration of a WorldView Legion satellite. Credit: SSL Two Falcon 9 rockets with reused first stage boosters will place the initial block of DigitalGlobe’s commercial WorldView Legion satellite fleet in orbit in 2021, the Earth-imaging company recently announced. Financial terms of DigitalGlobe’s contract with SpaceX were not disclosed in the March 14 contract release,…
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Video: Deployment of the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite from the Falcon 9 rocket
The Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, set to begin a 15-year telecommunications mission, deployed from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket around 33 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Tuesday. The powerful commercial telecom craft rode SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight into geostationary transfer orbit following a liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40…
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Video: Press site view of Falcon 9 launch with Hispasat 30W-6
Credit: Steven Young/Spaceflight Now This video replay from a nearby viewing site shows the Falcon 9 rocket launching early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket took off at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) Tuesday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad and delivered its commercial…