Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster flies for 9th time as Starlink constellation grows
SpaceX has launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites on the Starlink v.0 L21 mission from historic Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Liftoff took place on March 14 at 6:01 am EDT (10:01 UTC) and was the 21st operational and the 22nd overall Starlink mission. This also marked the first time a…
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Critics take aim at SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and other satellite constellations
A rocket’s-eye view shows a stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites just before orbital deployment. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb say their satellite mega-constellations will make broadband internet goodness available to billions of people around the world who are unserved or underserved — but some say those promises have to be weighed against the potential…
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SpaceX successfully launches Starlink v1.0 L20 mission
As SpaceX continues its push towards a new record number of launches in a single year, the company has launched the Starlink v1.0 L20 mission — the 20th launch of operational Starlink satellites and the 21st Starlink launch overall. The launch from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station occurred as scheduled at 3:13 am…
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SpaceX evolving fairing recovery plans, taking advantage of Octagrabber in pursuit of rapid reusability
SpaceX set a company record with 25 orbital launches in 2020. All but five of these missions utilized flight proven boosters, and 14 payload fairing halves were re-flown. As the company aims to almost double that cadence in 2021, they’ll continue to rely on their recovery fleet to bring boosters and fairings back to dry…
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SpaceX seeks FCC’s OK to extend Starlink satellite service to vehicles, ships, planes
SpaceX’s Starlink antenna connects with a network of satellites to provide high-speed internet access. (SpaceX Starlink Photo) SpaceX is asking the Federal Communications Commission to authorize the operation of equipment extending the company’s Starlink satellite broadband internet service to aircraft, ships and moving vehicles. Commercial mobile services would represent a new frontier for Starlink, which…
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Starship SN11 arrives at Pad B as SpaceX plans for the future
Just days after SN10 completed the first – albeit hard – Starship prototype landing, SN11 rolled out to the launch site for its own attempt. Incremental progress is being made with the test flights, with another tweak to the landing sequence set to be implemented, based on data gained from SN10. Meanwhile, the first Super…
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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 launches long-delayed Starlink L-17 mission
SpaceX launched the Starlink v1.0 L17 mission with a new batch of Starlink satellites from historic LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center aboard a flight proven Falcon 9 booster Thursday morning. The previous launch attempt on Sunday, February 28 ended in a scrub at T-1 minute 24 seconds. Falcon 9 launched at 03:24 EST (08:24…
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Starship SN10 successfully lands before RUD’ing on the pad
SpaceX’s Starship SN10 launched – and nailed the landing – Wednesday. However, likely due to the failure of some of the landing legs, the slightly tilted Starship caught fire on the landing pad and then blew up a few minutes later. With this advancement in the test program, future vehicles are seeing their Raptor engines…
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SpaceX aims to expand its Starlink satellite operation to Texas and set up Starbase City
SpaceX’s Starlink antenna connects with satellites for high-speed internet access. (SpaceX Starlink Photo) SpaceX is planning to break ground on a “state-of-the-art manufacturing facility” in Austin, Texas, to support a satellite operation that got its start in Redmond, Wash. The company’s billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, set up the Starlink satellite operation in Redmond five years…