Tag: SpaceX

  • Photos: Sunset sendoff for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket

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    A final set of photos shows Friday’s Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral with the SES 9 communications satellite. The 229-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, soaring east over the Atlantic Ocean about 10 minutes after sunset. Consuming a super-chilled mix of kerosene and…

  • Photos: Falcon 9 takes off at sunset

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    A Falcon 9 launcher bolted into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, adding the brilliant orange glare of rocket exhaust to a spectacular sunset as the 229-foot-tall booster propelled the SES 9 communications satellite into orbit to serve the Asia-Pacific with high-definition television programming and connectivity on-the-go. SpaceX’s kerosene-fueled rocket fired up at…

  • SpaceX’s satellite launch works like a charm, but rocket makes hard landing

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Credit: SpaceX) After coping with a wayward boat, unfavorable winds and propellant problems, SpaceX launched the SES-9 telecommunication satellite on its Falcon 9 rocket today, then tried unsuccessfully to land the rocket’s first stage on an oceangoing platform. The…

  • Photos: Sun sets on Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral

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    Check out photos of a picturesque sunset at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where a Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff with a commercial broadcasting satellite for Luxembourg-based SES. Photo credit: SpaceX Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

  • Watch another view of the Falcon 9’s last-second abort

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket got within a second of liftoff Sunday before a low-thrust alarm triggered an automatic abort. Watch a view of the dramatic last-second countdown cutoff at engine ignition from our camera at the launch pad. Video credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

  • Photos: Falcon 9 awaits liftoff

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is awaiting liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad as soon as Tuesday after three scrubs caused by propellant loading problems and a boat that strayed into restricted waters in the Atlantic Ocean. These photos from the past few days show the 229-foot-tall rocket on the launch pad, crowned by…

  • Falcon 9 grounded again after last-second abort

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    The Falcon 9 rocket’s nine first stage engines start up moments before the countdown aborted Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A commercial communications satellite stayed on Earth after a last-second launch abort Sunday, the third time in five days that SpaceX has scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. Sunday’s countdown got closer…

  • Wayward boat gets blamed after SpaceX aborts Falcon 9 rocket liftoff at last second

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    A launch pad camera shows the Falcon 9 rocket’s engines flaring during a last-second shutdown. (Credit: SpaceX via YouTube) A wayward boat and a load of liquid oxygen that got too warm forced SpaceX to abort what might have been a successful launch of the SES-9 telecommunication satellite today, just as the engines were firing up. The…

  • Telesat launch agreements awarded to SpaceX

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    Updated Feb. 29 with confirmation Telstar 18V and 19V will launch on Falcon 9s. File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Credit: SpaceX The Canadian telecom satellite operator Telesat plans to launch two multipurpose communications spacecraft aboard SpaceX Falcon rockets in 2018, the company disclosed this week in a quarterly earnings announcement. A…

  • SpaceX launch aborted in final minutes

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launch Thursday aborted less than two minutes before liftoff. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX kept an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket on the ground Thursday after running into a problem loading super-cold liquid propellants into the launcher’s fuel tanks, postponing blastoff of a commercial communications satellite for the second day in a row. The California-based…