Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX welcomes A Shortfall of Gravitas, shuffles Of Course I Still Love You west
On the morning of July 15, SpaceX’s long awaited droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas sailed into Port Canaveral, Florida. The vessel will bring the number of Florida-based droneships back to two following the relocation of Of Course I Still Love You to the west coast, allowing for more frequent launches of Falcon 9 and Falcon…
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SpaceX prepares for first Super Heavy static fire
SpaceX is readying for the first static firing of Raptor engines connected to the base of a Super Heavy booster, known as Booster 3. The test is a critical step in verifying and validating Super Heavy’s initial design for the first series of test boosters, including Booster 4, which is expected to launch Ship 20…
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Cargo Dragon splashes down to complete SpaceX CRS-22 mission
The SpaceX CRS-22 mission has come to a close, with Cargo Dragon having departed the International Space Station on Thursday, July 8 after a series of weather delays. NASA and SpaceX teams continued to monitor weather at the landing zones ahead of a successful undocking at 10:45 AM EDT (14:45 UTC). Splashdown occurred Friday evening…
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SpaceX launches 88 spacecraft into orbit — including two of Spaceflight’s orbital tugs
A SpaceX Falcon 9 booster makes its landing after the Transporter-2 launch. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sent dozens of satellites into orbit today with a launch that featured an unusual on-the-ground touchdown for its first-stage booster. Eighty-eight spacecraft were packed aboard the two-stage rocket, which took off from Cape Canaveral Space Force…
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SpaceX successfully launches Transporter 2 mission with 88 satellites
SpaceX launched the Transporter 2 mission on Wednesday, June 30 at 15:31 EDT (19:31 UTC) from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. This followed an attempt on Tuesday where the countdown was held at T-30 seconds due to an aircraft violating the range’s restricted airspace. This was the second dedicated…
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LeoStella delivers first Loft Orbital satellite for SpaceX’s jam-packed rideshare mission
Loft Orbital’s YAM-3 satellite is on display in the foreground at LeoStella’s factory in Tukwila, Wash. In the background, clean-room workers use their arms to spell out Y-A-M-3. (Leostella Photo) SpaceX is getting set to launch scores of satellites for its Transporter-2 rideshare mission, and one of those satellites marks a milestone for LeoStella. Loft…
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Orbital Demo the goal amid potential SN16 hypersonic test
As the Launch Integration Tower at the Orbital Launch Site (OLS) continues to grow, Elon Musk has intimated a potential interim test with Starship SN16. As SN16 was rolled out of the High Bay towards the scrapyard, most believed that confirmed that the next vehicle to roll down Highway 4 to the launch site would…
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SpaceX launches newest GPS satellite on reused booster
SpaceX has launched another next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite for the United States Space Force. Falcon 9 lifted off with the GPS-III-SV05 satellite on June 17 from SLC-40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida right on time at 12:09EDT (16:09 UTC). This was the 19th Falcon 9 launch in 2021, and…
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SpaceX launches 2nd mission in three days with SiriusXM-8
SpaceX launched its 18th mission of 2021 with the SiriusXM-8 (SXM-8) high-power broadcasting satellite. A Falcon 9 rocket lofted the SXM-8 satellite to a sub-synchronous geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) after launching from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) on Sunday, June 6 at 00:26 EDT/04:26 UTC. The 45th Weather Squadron at Space Launch Delta 45 predicted a 70%…
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SpaceX CRS-22 delivers new solar arrays & science to International Space Station
The CRS-22 cargo mission to the International Space Station lifted off right on time at 13:29 EDT (17:29 UTC) on Thursday, June 3. The Cargo Dragon 2 spacecraft, carrying the first two of six new solar arrays to the station alongside other supplies as well as scientific experiments, departed from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space…