Tag: commercial-space
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SpaceX going for new rocket reuse record on 100th Falcon 9 launch
EDITOR’S NOTE: Launch has been rescheduled for 9:13 p.m. EST on Nov. 24 (0213 GMT on Nov. 25). A Falcon 9 rocket fires its engines at Cape Canaveral on Sunday in preparation for launch with 60 more Starlink satellites. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now Sixty more Starlink internet satellites are ready to rocket into orbit…
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Crew-rated SpaceX booster returns to Cape Canaveral with a lean
The Falcon 9 booster from the Crew-1 launch returned to Port Canaveral on Thursday aboard SpaceX’s drone ship “Just Read the Instructions.” Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now The Falcon 9 booster that launched four astronauts toward orbit last weekend arrived back on Florida’s Space Coast Thursday aboard a SpaceX drone ship, sailing into Port…
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Photos: Four astronauts launch aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
These images show the liftoff of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft on top of a 215-foot-tall (65-meter) Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying four astronauts on an expedition to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 39A at 7:27:17 p.m. EST on…
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Rocket Lab recovers booster after launch with 30 small satellites
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 11 a.m. EST (1600 GMT) with image of booster. The Electron first stage is seen in the Pacific Ocean in this image shared by Rocket Lab founder and CEO Peter Beck on Twitter. Credit: Rocket Lab via Peter Beck Rocket Lab says the first stage of its Electron launcher splashed down under…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches Electron, booster parachutes into sea
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying 30 small payloads into low Earth orbit. The mission will feature Rocket Lab’s first attempt to recover an Electron booster intact for refurbishment and reuse. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow…
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Boeing subsidiary ready to launch satellite deorbiting experiment
Artist’s concept of the DragRacer satellites. Credit: Millennium Space Systems Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing subsidiary, built two small satellites awaiting launch Thursday night on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on a mission to test the effectiveness of a drag-inducing device that could help remove spacecraft from orbit. The two small satellites are part of…
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Crew Dragon docking gives space station its first long-term crew of seven
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon “Resilience” spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV/Spaceflight Now SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft glided to a smooth automated docking Monday night at the International Space Station, delivering four astronauts to join the three-person crew already on-board, boosting the size of the lab’s long-duration crew to seven for the…
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Astronauts fly with SpaceX in landmark launch for commercial spaceflight
A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off at 7:27 p.m. EST Sunday (0027 GMT Monday) with SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now A Crew Dragon capsule ferried four astronauts into space Sunday night after a rumbling departure from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida,…
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NASA officials hope to fly Russian cosmonaut on Crew Dragon next year
The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft descends to a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan on Oct. 22. Credit: NASA/GCTC/Denis Derevtsov NASA has submitted a draft agreement for government approval that would allow Russian cosmonauts to begin flying to the International Space Station on U.S. crew capsules next year in a no-funds exchanged arrangement with Russia’s space…
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Veteran Japanese astronaut to become SpaceX’s first international passenger
Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi during training at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi has traveled to the International Space Station on a space shuttle and a Russian capsule. He’s now gearing up to launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship, becoming only the third person to launch from Earth into…