Tag: GRACE-FO

A threatening layer of clouds stayed away from SpaceX’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, allowing for clear viewing of a spectacular Falcon 9 launch carrying commercial and scientific satellites into polar orbit. Towering 229 feet (70 meters) tall, the Falcon 9 ignited its nine Merlin 1D engines and lifted…

Artist’s concept of the GRACE-Follow On satellites. Credit: NASA A pair of European-built, NASA-backed research satellites set for launch Tuesday from California will extend 15 years of global gravity field measurements collected by the GRACE mission before it ended last year, supplying scientists with data to help track the melting of Earth’s ice sheets and…

SpaceX’s tenth launch of the year took off Tuesday from California’s Central Coast on a unique ridehsare mission to add satellites to Iridium’s communications network and replace two Earth science satellites which ended their observations last year. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12:47:58…

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with five more Iridium Next communications satellite and the U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On climate research mission. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Friday at 12:47:58 p.m. PDT (3:47:58 p.m. EDT; 1947:58 GMT) Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. SpaceX will not…

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by a reused first stage climbed into orbit Tuesday from California’s Central Coast, carrying five satellites to upgrade Iridium’s global messaging service and two research craft to study Earth’s water cycle. The rideshare…

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with five next-generation Iridium communications satellites and two U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On research craft to study Earth’s climate and water cycle. NASA TV’s live video coverage begins at 12:15 p.m. PDT (3:15 p.m. EDT; 1915 GMT),…

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rolled out to its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Monday, one day before its scheduled liftoff carrying seven satellites into orbit on commercial communications and climate research missions. These photos show the Falcon 9 rocket, standing more than 20 stories tall, at Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 4-East…