Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX launches second Hotbird satellite for Eutelsat
SpaceX has conducted its 51st launch of 2022 with Eutelsat’s Hotbird-13G telecommunication satellite using a flight-proven Falcon 9 to a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). The Falcon 9 launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). SpaceX stated that, in order to complete pre-flight checkouts, liftoff was delayed to the…
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SpaceX Falcon Heavy lofts USSF-44 on first flight in three years
The world’s most powerful operational rocket, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, took to the Florida skies for the first time in over three years on Nov. 1 for the USSF-44 mission, a US Space Force contracted flight with a classified payload and at least one rideshare satellite. Liftoff occurred right on time at 9:41 AM EDT (13:41…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 4-31 from Vandenberg
SpaceX’s 49th Falcon 9 flight of 2022 has lifted off from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California with 53 Starlink satellites. The launch occurred on time on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 6:14 PM PDT (01:14 UTC on Friday, Oct. 28). Falcon 9 launched to the southeast into a 53.2-degree inclined orbit to help fill…
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SpaceX launches the 3,500th Starlink satellite
SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO) on Thursday. Liftoff occurred at 10:50 AM EDT (14:50 UTC) on Oct. 20 from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission–known as Group 4-36–saw Falcon 9 loft 54 Starlink satellites to the fourth shell of…
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Starship set for full stack fueling test ahead of static fire campaign
A fully stacked Starship is still set to conduct the next round of tests for its fully reusable launch system ahead of its debut orbital launch attempt as soon as later this year. This is despite a surprise destack of Ship 24 on Sunday, although this does not preclude restacking ahead of the next phase…
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Hotbird-13F launches aboard Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral
The Eutelsat Hotbird-13F geostationary communications satellite launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Falcon 9 booster 1069-3, which had flown the CRS-24 and Starlink 4-23 missions, launched the Hotbird satellite to geostationary transfer orbit. The launch occurred at the end of the window on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 1:22 AM…
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SpaceX Crew-4 returns to Earth with Atlantic splashdown
After living and working aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for close to six months, Crew-4 and its crew of international astronauts have undocked from the orbiting laboratory and made their return to Earth. The four-person crew, consisting of NASA astronauts Kjell N. Lindgren, Robert Hines, Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha…
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SpaceX successfully lofts Intelsat Galaxy duo
SpaceX launched Intelsat’s Galaxy 33 (G-33) and Galaxy 34 (G-34) satellites on Saturday from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch came after scrubbing two previous attempts due to a helium issue. This mission adds to SpaceX’s already record-setting year, marking their 46th flight of 2022. SpaceX…
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SpaceX Crew-5 mission docks with ISS
SpaceX and NASA have launched a group of four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Crew-5 mission. The crew flew atop a Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center’s historic Launch Complex 39A on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 12:00:57 PM EDT (16:00:57 UTC). With…
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Amid Starship milestones, Booster 7 set to return for pre-launch testing
SpaceX’s Starship program continues to march through a fluid set of milestones, ranging from a new record number of Raptor engines firing simultaneously, to the anticipated presence of a vehicle on the Starship pad at Florida’s historic LC-39A by the second quarter of 2023. Booster 7 achieved the seven-engine static fire test milestone before rolling…