Tag: Falcon 9
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SpaceX Falcon 9 conducts Static Fire ahead of SES-9 launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has conducted her Static Fire test on Monday, a dress rehearsal milestone ahead of Wednesday’s launch of the SES-9 satellite. The test took place at SLC-40, at the same time as work begins at LC-39A to remove the Shuttle-era Rotating Service Structure (RSS) from the site of future SpaceX launches. SES-9: The…
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SES says SpaceX will launch its satellite in late February
The Falcon 9 rocket’s last launch from Cape Canaveral was in December. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s next launch from Cape Canaveral is set for Feb. 24, when a Falcon 9 rocket will carry a commercial television broadcasting satellite aloft for Luxembourg-based SES, the payload’s owner announced Monday. The flight from SpaceX’s Complex 40 launch pad will…
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SpaceX prepares for SES-9 mission and Dragon’s return
Two SpaceX missions have received preliminary planning dates for their upcoming launches out of Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 launch with the SES-9 satellite is now aiming for a February 24 liftoff from SLC-40, while the Dragon spacecraft is set to return to action NET (No Earlier Than) April 1 for her CRS-8 mission to…
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U.S. debates Atlas V RD-180 engine ban, ULA’s non-bid for military launch
The U.S. Congress is debating the reinstatement of a purchasing ban on Russian RD-180 engines – the heart of the Atlas V core stage. Congress lifted that ban in December 2015. However, some Congressional members are questioning that decision as well as ULA’s decision to not bid for the 2018 competitive U.S. military GPS III-3 satellite…
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Falcon 9 upgrade receives blessing from U.S. Air Force
SpaceX’s upgraded Falcon 9 rocket has flown one time, hauling 11 Orbcomm communications satellites into low Earth orbit in this Dec. 21 liftoff from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX The U.S. Air Force on Monday certified the latest version of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, featuring higher-thrust engines, enlarged fuel tanks and a super-chilled propellant mixture, for…
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SpaceX rocket wreckage back on shore after near-miss at landing
Debris from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket booster returned to shore in Southern California late Monday after it tipped over on touchdown on a landing platform in the Pacific Ocean following liftoff with a ocean study satellite. SpaceX intended to recover the 14-story booster on the company’s landing barge — named “Just Read the Instructions” —…
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SpaceX narrowly misses booster landing at sea
Falcon lands on droneship, but the lockout collet doesn’t latch on one the four legs, causing it to tip over post landing. Root cause may have been ice buildup due to condensation from heavy fog at liftoff. A video posted by Elon Musk (@elonmusk) on Jan 17, 2016 at 7:07pm PST One of four landing…
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Satellite launched to measure motions of the oceans
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 10:42 a.m. PST (1:42 p.m. EST; 1842 GMT) Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX…
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Live coverage: Falcon 9 launches ocean study satellite, barge landing fails
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the Jason 3 ocean altimetry mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
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Final SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 successfully launches Jason-3
SpaceX launched an international ocean research mission Sunday via its Falcon 9 rocket, the final F9 to fly in the v1.1 configuration. Flying from Vandenberg Air Force Base, the rocket lifted off with the Jason-3 spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 4E at 10:42 local time (18:42 UTC). The attempt to land the first stage on…