Tag: Falcon 9
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Launch of SpaceX cargo mission slips to Dec. 19
File photo of a Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket prepared for a previous SpaceX resupply mission. Credit: SpaceX The launch of SpaceX’s next resupply mission to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for no earlier than Dec. 19 to make sure the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship are ready for flight,…
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SpaceX hopes to recover rocket intact after next launch
SpaceX’s reusable rocket testbed — the Falcon 9R — touches down at the company’s Central Texas development facility after a brief vertical takeoff and landing test flight. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX will test out new stabilizing fins that could help land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating barge in the Atlantic Ocean…
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SpaceX’s Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship ready for action
The mystery behind the “floating platform” – set to welcome home a returning Falcon 9 v1.1 first stage – has been solved via a series of fascinating comments by SpaceX’s Elon Musk. Known as the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship, the ocean faring platform will be the new propulsive landing target for a Falcon 9, possibly as…
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Deep Space Climate Observatory arrives at Florida launch site
The Deep Space Climate Observatory mission patch. Credit: NOAA/NASA/U.S. Air Force A novel NOAA climate observatory with a unique past arrived at Cape Canaveral on Thursday to begin two months of launch preparations, testing, and fueling before liftoff aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Deep Space Climate Observatory — known as DSCOVR — was…
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Construction of Texas launch site to begin next year
SpaceX broke ground on a new commercial spaceport Sept. 22 on the shores of South Texas, committing to the construction of the world’s first privately-owned satellite launch pad scheduled to be operational as soon as late 2016. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Texas Gov. Rick Perry break ground on the South…
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SpaceX conducts Sunday morning CRS-4 Dragon launch
SpaceX has launched the second Dragon mission of 2014, with a Falcon 9 v1.1 lofting the cargo spacecraft into orbit on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Following a weather-related scrub on Saturday morning, liftoff from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral occurred without issue at 1:52am Eastern early on Sunday. CRS-4: Coming less…
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Soyuz TMA-12M returns ISS trio to Earth – Dragon up next
Expedition 40 commander Steven Swanson, along with cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, have returned to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft on Wednesday. The trio undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:01pm Eastern, ahead of a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:23pm. Meanwhile, the launch of the next SpaceX Dragon…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 launches ASIASAT-6 mission
SpaceX has conducted its second mission for China’s Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Sunday, with a Falcon 9 launching the AsiaSat-6 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Liftoff occurred at 01:00 local time (05:00 UTC) from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, ten minutes into a 104 minute window. SpaceX Launch: Sunday’s launch came a month…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 realigns for weekend launch of ASIASAT-6
SpaceX appears to have completed an evaluation into potential commonality between a failure on a test vehicle and its Falcon 9 fleet, following its now-approved request to the Eastern Range for Sunday morning launch of the ASIASAT-6 mission. The launch, to be conducted by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, was delayed just ahead of fueling…
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Dragon V2 will initially rely on parachute landings
SpaceX’s Commercial Crew contender, the Dragon V2, will initially return to terra firma under parachutes, assisted by a SuperDraco soft touchdown firing, according to Dragon V2 Program Lead Dr. Garrett Reisman. Eventually, the impressive spacecraft will employ pinpoint propulsive landings, once the technology has been matured via the DragonFly test program. Dragon V2: SpaceX’s crew version of…