Tag: Falcon 9

  • 2014’s launch tally highest in two decades

    The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flew nine times in 2014, more than any other U.S. launcher. Six of the missions flew from Cape Canaveral, which was the starting point for 16 space launches in 2014, tied for the highest number of launches there since 2003. Credit: ULA There were more successful space launches…

  • Rain and clouds in the forecast for Tuesday’s SpaceX launch

    File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad before a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX Meteorologists predict mostly cloudy conditions with a chance of light rain for Tuesday morning’s scheduled takeoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a space station-bound supply ship, with a 40 percent chance weather could…

  • SpaceX selected for launch of Qatari satellite

    File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX A communications satellite owned by the Qatari government will launch from Cape Canaveral on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in late 2016, according to Qatar’s state-owned satellite company. The Es’hail 2 satellite — under construction at Japan’s Mitsubishi Electric Corp. — will broadcast…

  • Planet-hunting telescope to launch on Falcon 9 rocket

    Artist’s concept of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Credit: MIT NASA’s decision to launch a satellite to search for planets around other stars on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2017 will allow officials to cancel plans to order a solid-fueled kick motor to send the telescope into a unique high-altitude orbit, the mission’s top…

  • Falcon 9 completes full-duration static fire

    The Falcon 9 rocket fires its nine Merlin 1D main engines Friday on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX fueled up a Falcon 9 rocket, ran through a mock countdown and fired the booster’s nine Merlin main engines Friday in a successful preflight static fire test officials hope will clear the way…

  • Launch of SpaceX supply ship delayed to January

    File photo of a Falcon 9 static fire before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX Blaming a technical glitch encountered during a preflight test, officials said Thursday the launch of SpaceX’s next Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station has been delayed to early January. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is now expected no…

  • Rocket landing experiment on tap after SpaceX cargo launch

    An aerial view of SpaceX’s rocket landing barge, named the Marmac 300 and unofficially christened the “Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship.” Credit: SpaceX SpaceX hopes to take a giant leap forward in rocket technology a few minutes after Friday’s scheduled launch of a Falcon 9 booster taking up 2.5 tons of critical supplies and experiments to…

  • SpaceX confirms CRS-5 launch slip to January 6

    SpaceX confirms CRS-5 launch slip to January 6

    The next Falcon 9 v1.1 set to launch out of Florida’s Cape Canaveral has been rescheduled for January 6. The original plan was to launch the rocket on Friday, before an issue with the Static Fire test earlier in the week resulted in a technical and schedule discussion, with numerous considerations – such as the ISS’ high…

  • SpaceX expected to set new Falcon 9 launch date

    File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad before a previous flight. Credit: SpaceX Officials will likely set a new launch date Thursday for a SpaceX-owned commercial cargo craft that was expected to take off Friday heading for the International Space Station, according to sources familiar with launch preparations.…

  • Photos: SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ship

    An ocean-going cargo barge modified to serve as a landing pad for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster is set to depart the Port of Jacksonville for a journey into the Atlantic Ocean ahead of Friday’s launch of a space station cargo mission from Cape Canaveral. The barge will be stationed about 200 miles northeast of Cape…