Tag: BEAM
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SpaceX adds abort function for Dragon cargo flights
The Dragon spaceship set for liftoff Friday is pictured during launch preparations. Credit: SpaceX Taking a lesson from a launch failure last June, SpaceX wrote coded commands for future Dragon cargo capsules to deploy their parachutes for an emergency landing in the event of rocket explosions, starting with Friday’s resupply flight to the International Space…
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Timeline for the Falcon 9 rocket’s 23rd flight
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in 10 minutes Friday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying nearly 7,000 pounds of supplies and experiments. Liftoff is set for 2043:32 GMT (4:43:32 p.m. EDT) Thursday from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. It will be…
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Static fire complete in run-up to launch of SpaceX supply ship
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is pictured inside the hangar at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad before rollout leading up to Tuesday’s static fire test. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX ran a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary preflight checkout Tuesday, filling it with super-cold propellants and firing its nine Merlin first stage engines in preparation for…
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SpaceX hopes to raise launch tempo after space station flight
File photo of a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is targeting April 8 for the launch of its first resupply run to the International Space Station in nearly a year, a mission that the company hopes will mark the start of a rapid-fire launch manifest full of payloads waiting to fly. The early…
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Falcon 9’s near-term manifest coming into focus
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Justin Ray/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s launch of a cluster of communications satellites for Orbcomm, set for as soon as next weekend, holds the headlines, but the company’s Falcon 9 rocket could fly at least four times in the next two months, assuming smooth launch campaigns and no glitches.…