Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX conducts Falcon 9 Static Fire ahead of key ISS mission
SpaceX has conducted a Static Fire of its Falcon 9 v1.1 on Friday, a key milestone ahead of Sunday’s planned launch of the CRS-7/SpX-7 Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission will help restock the orbital outpost with vital supplies, highlighted by an investigation into high Total Organic Carbon (TOC) levels in the…
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SpaceX aims for another rocket landing experiment Sunday
Artist’s concept of a Falcon 9 booster after landing on SpaceX’s ocean-going platform. Credit: Jon Ross Keeping with its mantra of fly, fix and fly again, SpaceX says its engineers have resolved an engine valve problem that kept one of its Falcon 9 boosters from successfully touching down on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean…
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World launch markets look toward rocket reusability
What was once thought to be a pipe dream of having a reusable system of rocket and rocket components to reduce the overall cost of spaceflight is now gaining significant traction, as SpaceX leads the way toward a fully reusable first stage, while the United Launch Alliance and the European Space Agency move toward reusability…
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SpaceX Augments and Upgrades Drone Ship Armada
SpaceX’s aspirations towards recovering launched Falcon 9 first stages are continuing to focus on ocean based landings, ahead of realizing the goal of returning the cores back to land. With continual refinements to the approach, SpaceX have welcomed new and improved Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ships (ASDS), one of which has been sighted taking a cruise…
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Jason 3 satellite shipped to Vandenberg for SpaceX launch
Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite in orbit. Credit: Thales Alenia Space-D. Ducros An international oceanography satellite arrived at its California launch base from a factory in France on Thursday for fueling, testing and other final preps before its scheduled Aug. 8 blastoff on a Falcon 9 rocket. Packed inside a specialized shipping container,…
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Commercial crew spaceships face likely delays
Updated at 5 p.m. EDT Artist’s concepts of Boeing’s CST-100 crew capsule and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Credit: Boeing/SpaceX NASA officials and lawmakers warned Wednesday that U.S. astronauts will continue riding to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft longer than planned if a spending plan under consideration in the Senate becomes law. The space…
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Video: Falcon 9 nose shroud falls back to Earth
SpaceX has released another jaw-dropping video from a camera fastened to a piece of a Falcon 9 rocket’s payload fairing, showing the nose cone spinning through space after its separation on a recent launch. The on-board video likely came from a satellite launch earlier this year. SpaceX did not disclose which mission produced the stunning…
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Launch of U.S.-French oceanography satellite postponed
The Jason 3 satellite inside a clean room at its Thales Alenia Space factory in Cannes. Credit: CNES/Thales Alenia Space The launch of a U.S.-French oceanography satellite from California has been postponed from July 22 after engineers discovered contamination in one of the spacecraft’s thrusters at its factory in France. NOAA announced the launch slip…
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NASA evaluating CCP Loss Of Crew and Mishap procedures
NASA’s transition from the Space Shuttle to the commercial crew vehicles will dramatically improve crew safety parameters relating to the transportation of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). However, preparing for the worst is a necessary requirement that is currently being evaluated by NASA, per presentations to the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP). Loss Of…
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SpaceX cleared to launch U.S. national security satellites
File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Credit: SpaceX The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that SpaceX is now eligible to compete for launches of U.S. national security satellites, closing a tumultuous chapter in the U.S. rocket industry and ending the Pentagon’s sole reliance on United Launch Alliance to haul military payloads into…