Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX Falcon 9 lofts Turkmenistan’s first satellite
Making its second launch in less than a fortnight, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried Turkmenistan’s first satellite to orbit Monday evening following a liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The launch set sail at 19:03 after a series of weather delays within the window, before deploying the TurkmenÄlem 52E satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Falcon 9…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 lofts Turkmenistan’s first satellite
Making its second launch in less than a fortnight, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carried Turkmenistan’s first satellite to orbit Monday evening following a liftoff from Cape Canaveral. The launch set sail at 19:03 after a series of weather delays within the window, before deploying the TurkmenÄlem 52E satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Falcon 9…
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Clouds in the forecast for Monday’s Falcon 9 launch
SpaceX’s mission patch for the Falcon 9 launch with TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat. Credit: SpaceX Forecasters will be watching clouds and rain showers during the countdown before Monday’s launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite. The 22-story rocket is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral during a 90-minute launch window opening at 6:14…
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Decision on new space station cargo contracts deferred
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft arrives at the International Space Station on April 17 for its sixth operational cargo delivery. Credit: ESA/NASA NASA expects to select commercial contractors to resupply the International Space Station in September, three months later than the agency’s previous timetable under a competition for cargo deliveries beginning in 2018. NASA was scheduled to…
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SpaceX ready for another launch and key Commercial Crew test
SpaceX has conducted a Static Fire test on the next Falcon 9 rocket set to launch out of Florida, tasked with the lofting of the TurkmenistanSat spacecraft on April 27. SpaceX also passed a Test Readiness Review (TRR) for its Dragon 2 Pad Abort test, which is currently scheduled to take place on May 5.…
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SpaceX ready for another launch and key Commercial Crew test
SpaceX has conducted a Static Fire test on the next Falcon 9 rocket set to launch out of Florida, tasked with the lofting of the TurkmenistanSat spacecraft on April 27. SpaceX also passed a Test Readiness Review (TRR) for its Dragon 2 Pad Abort test, which is currently scheduled to take place on May 5.…
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Throttle valve blamed for Falcon 9’s unsuccessful landing
SpaceX engineers have narrowed the cause of last week’s unsuccessful landing of a Falcon 9 rocket booster on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean on a commanding issue with an engine throttle valve, according to Elon Musk, the company’s founder and chief executive. Musk posted the update on Twitter late Saturday, and he confirmed the…
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Dragon pad abort test set for early May
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon pad abort vehicle during a ground test. Credit: SpaceX A major test of the system that would shoot SpaceX astronaut crews away from a failing rocket is scheduled for no earlier than May 5 from a specially-built mount at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, NASA announced Tuesday. The four-hour window for…
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Fine-tuning Falcon 9 landing focuses on throttle valve response
SpaceX is getting ever closer to successfully returning the first stage of its Falcon 9 v1.1, with the latest attempt showing the effort is now focused on fine-tuning. The return of the first stage used during the CRS-6 Dragon launch was the best landing attempt to date, with a slower than expected throttle valve response parameter…
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SpaceX supply ship joins up with space station
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule flies underneath the space station on final approach Friday. Credit: NASA/Terry Virts Packed with an array of experiments and provisions, including a custom-made Italian espresso maker, SpaceX’s unmanned Dragon cargo capsule reached the International Space Station on Friday after a precise laser-guided rendezvous more than 250 miles above Earth. The commercial…