Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX launches its 50th person to space on ISS-bound Crew-8 mission
A Falcon 9 rocket, with Crew Dragon Endeavour on top, lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on the Crew-8 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now For the second time this year, SpaceX sent a quartet of people up to the International Space Station using its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon…
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Flight 2 Mishap Investigation closed as SpaceX preps for another WDR
After the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially closed the mishap investigation into the second flight of Starship, which occurred on Nov 18, 2023. SpaceX is preparing to restack Booster 10 and Ship 28 onto the OLM before another Wet Dress Reheral WDR attempt that would set the stage for a March launch attempt. Next Up,…
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SpaceX squeezes in rare Leap Day Falcon 9 launch following Crew-8 astronaut delay
In just the fourth Leap Day launch in history, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX made the most of a weather delay to an astronaut launch from Florida’s Space Coast. The company launched a batch of Starlink satellites from pad…
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SpaceX tests new emergency escape system to certify pad 40 at Cape Canaveral for astronaut missions
SpaceX performed a deployment test of its new emergency egress system from the crew access tower at Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now SpaceX is closing in on certifying its launch pad at Space Launch Complex 40 to support astronaut and cargo missions with its second-generation Dragon spacecraft.…
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SpaceX discloses cause of Starship anomalies as it clears an FAA hurdle
A little more than three months after the most recent launch of a Starship vehicle, which ended with both the booster and upper stage being lost in flight, the Federal Aviation Administration has closed its investigation of the mishap. “SpaceX identified, and the FAA accepts, the root causes and 17 corrective actions documented in SpaceX’s…
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Following aborted WDRs Flight 3 enters additional preparations
After two Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) aborts, SpaceX opted to destack Ship 28 before removing Booster 10 from the Orbital Launch Mount (OLM). The Booster has since rolled back to the Production Site, while Ship 28 conducted standalone testing on Pad B, opening with a Spin Prime test on Monday. A March launch of Flight…
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Astronauts, cosmonaut arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of NASA, SpaceX Crew-8 launch
The four members of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission pose in front of the NASA Gulfstream plane at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility. (Left to right) Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA Astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Set against a bright, blue Florida skyline, the three astronauts and…
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SpaceX seeks a waiver to launch Starship “at least” nine times this year
As SpaceX nears its first Starship launch of 2024—possibly as soon as within three weeks—from its Starbase facility in South Texas, the company is pressing regulators to increase its cadence of flights. During a press availability this week, the administrator for Commercial Space Transportation at the Federal Aviation Administration, Kelvin Coleman, said the agency is…
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Rocket Report: Starliner launch preps; Indian rocket engine human-rated
Welcome to Edition 6.32 of the Rocket Report! I’m writing the report again this week as Eric Berger is in Washington, DC, to receive a well-earned honor, the 2024 Excellence in Commercial Space Journalism Award from the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Cape Canaveral is the world’s busiest spaceport, and this week, three leading US launch companies…
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Launch Roundup: SpaceX launches two Starlink missions; China launches Chang Zheng 5
A brand new week of spaceflight is approaching with SpaceX preparing to launch three Starlink missions, China getting ready to send two payloads to orbit, including one on the powerful Chang Zheng 5 (CZ-5) rocket, and Roscosmos preparing to launch Russian-built satellites to orbit atop Soyuz. Late on Feb. 22, Starlink Group 7-15 took 22…