Tag: SpaceX
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Hefty Hispasat satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) with orbit details. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Tuesday. Credit: SpaceX A Spanish-owned, U.S.-built commercial communications satellite climbed into orbit early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral on the 50th flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching on…
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SpaceX conducts 50th Falcon 9 launch with heavy Hispasat deployment
SpaceX launched its fiftieth Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday, deploying Spain’s Hispasat 30W-6 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Liftoff, from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), was on schedule at the start of a two-hour window at 00:33 local time (05:33 UTC). Hispasat 30W-6, also known as H30W-6, will be operated by Hispasat, a Spanish…
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SpaceX sends Spanish telecom satellite into orbit with 50th Falcon 9 rocket launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lofts the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite to space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (SpaceX Photo) SpaceX sent a Spanish broadband telecommunications satellite into orbit tonight, marking the 50th launch of a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket sent Hispasat 30W-6 rose into the night sky from Cape Canaveral Air Force…
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TESS – the latest exoplanet finder – in final preparations for launch
Next month, SpaceX is set to launch the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, is the next step in humanity’s ongoing effort to discover and characterize exoplanets, including planets that might host life. The spacecraft is currently scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 on April 16 from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral. The TESS project…
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First Falcon 9 Block 5 booster readying for static fire at McGregor; paving way for rapid reuse
SpaceX is working towards a major milestone on their road to rapid and inexpensive reusability. The first Block 5 Falcon 9 first stage is on the test stand at their McGregor, Texas test facility as it prepares for a test fire. The booster – core 1046 – was first seen on Interstate 8 in Yuma,…
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SpaceX’s Mr. Steven, the FSV fairing catcher
Last Thursday, SpaceX performed its first full-blown fairing recovery test during the Falcon 9 launch of PAZ and two Starlink demonstration satellites. The attempt involved a new addition to the SpaceX recovery fleet, Mr. Steven, complete with a giant net that is designed to catch returning fairings. While the catch during the PAZ mission was…
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SpaceX postpones Falcon 9 launch over payload fairing concerns
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX officials have postponed the launch of a Spanish-owned telecommunications satellite from Cape Canaveral planned for this weekend to conduct additional testing on the Falcon 9’s payload fairing pressurization system, the company announced Saturday. SpaceX did not set a…
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SpaceX launches its first Starlink internet satellites (and Spain’s Paz satellite, too)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX put its first two prototype Starlink broadband satellites into orbit along with a Spanish radar imaging satellite today. The launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California came at 6:17 a.m. PT Thursday, 24 hours after strong upper-level…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 with PAZ, Starlink demo and new fairing
SpaceX has launched with the debuting of an upgraded payload fairing for the Falcon 9 rocket during Spain’s Paz satellite lofting from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thursday. The launch, scrubbed on Wednesday due to Upper Level Winds, also carried the first demonstration satellites for SpaceX’s own satellite internet constellation. Launch occurred at an instantaneous…
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Photos: Falcon 9 on the eve of launch from Vandenberg
SpaceX crews at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California rolled out a Falcon 9 rocket and lifted it vertical atop its launch pad ahead of a planned blastoff Wednesday with a Spanish radar observation satellite and two test probes for a planned global broadband Internet network. These photos captured Tuesday at Vandenberg show the 229-foot-tall…