Tag: SpaceX
-
Photos: SpaceX’s Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral
Crowned with a Japanese telecommunications satellite, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sits atop its Cape Canaveral launch pad hours before its scheduled blastoff Friday. Standing 229 feet (70 meters) tall, the two-stage rocket rolled out of its hangar at the Complex 40 launch pad Thursday and was erected vertical for liftoff with the JCSAT 14 communications…
-
Woohoo! SpaceX Falcon 9 booster makes nighttime landing at sea after launching JCSAT-14 satellite
Hours after its nighttime landing, a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage stands tall on an autonomous spaceport drone ship nicknamed “Of Course I Still Love You.” (Credit: SpaceX) SpaceX increased the degree of difficulty for tonight’s Falcon 9 rocket landing attempt at sea after launching a Japanese satellite into a super-high orbit – but the feat…
-
Stormy weather in Florida delays Falcon 9 launch
Updated with weather forecast. The Falcon 9 rocket slated to launch Japan’s JCSAT 14 communications satellite inside SpaceX’s hangar at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX has delayed a planned Falcon 9 launch with a Japanese communications satellite to Friday due to inclement weather on Florida’s Space Coast. The launch window is unchanged, opening at 1:21…
-
SpaceX looks to future with new pad, USAF contract, and boost for Falcon
Following a banner week for what was once the new kid on the block, SpaceX has secured a coveted US Air Force launch contract in the same week the company announced a joint venture with NASA to send its Red Dragon human rated spacecraft to Mars in 2018 while also announcing new maximum performance margins…
-
SpaceX undecided on payload for first Falcon Heavy flight
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. Credit: SpaceX As SpaceX engineers put together the first model of the company’s new Falcon Heavy rocket, officials have not ruled out flying a paying customer’s satellite aboard the maiden flight of the humongous launcher scheduled later this year, the company’s president told Spaceflight Now. The long-awaited Falcon Heavy rocket…
-
Hold-down test firing complete for next SpaceX launch
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket’s static fire test at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX technicians are attaching a Japanese communications satellite to the top of a Falcon 9 rocket ahead of a planned launch Thursday morning from Cape Canaveral. The JCSAT 14 communications satellite, made in California by Space…
-
SpaceX completes static fire ahead of JCSAT-14 mission
SpaceX has completed a crucial static firing of their Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the upcoming mission to loft the JCSAT-14 satellite for the Tokyo-based SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. The static fire took place late on Sunday at SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ahead of a planned launch on Thursday, 5 May.…
-
Commercial Falcon 9 rocket launch scheduled for next week
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch is set for no earlier than May 5, sources said Friday, with a Japanese television broadcasting satellite heading to orbit from Cape Canaveral. The two-stage booster was scheduled to roll out of SpaceX’s…
-
GPS-3 is go: SpaceX wins its first national security launch contract … by default
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches the Deep Space Climate Observatory for NOAA, NASA and the Air Force in February 2015. SpaceX has launched payloads for the Air Force previously, but now it’s been chosen for the launch of a national security payload. (Credit: SpaceX) SpaceX today won an $82.7 million contract to launch a GPS-3…
-
SpaceX plans to debut Red Dragon with 2018 Mars mission
SpaceX has entered into an agreement with NASA for a Dragon mission to Mars, set to take place as early as 2018. Known as “Red Dragon”, the variant of the Dragon 2 spacecraft will be launched by the Falcon Heavy rocket, ahead of a soft landing on the surface of Mars. The mission is also part…