Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX fires up Falcon 9 rocket for weekend launch from Florida
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Feb. 22 with weather forecast. A view of the Falcon 9 rocket on Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Wednesday, awaiting the attachment of the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite for launch Sunday. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now A Falcon 9 rocket booked to launch a commercial communications satellite for Hispasat, a Madrid-based telecom company,…
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Falcon 9 launch timeline with Paz
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated on Feb. 21 with launch delay. Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Paz Earth observation payload for Hisdesat, operator of Spain’s governmental satellites. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Thursday at 6:17 a.m. PST (9:17 a.m. EST; 1417 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base…
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Test satellites for SpaceX’s broadband ‘megaconstellation’ set for launch
SpaceX plans to launch the first two satellites of a potential fleet of nearly 12,000 spacecraft Wednesday. Credit: NASA SpaceX is set to launch two prototype probes Wednesday to begin testing spacecraft and antenna technology the company hopes will eventually power a network of thousands of satellites blanketing planet Earth with broadband Internet coverage. The…
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Exoplanet-hunting satellite arrives in Florida for April launch
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is pictured inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida after arriving Feb. 12. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final testing, fueling and attachment to a Falcon 9 launcher for liftoff in…
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Falcon 9 static fires at Vandenberg ahead of Paz + Starlink launch
SpaceX is progressing well through what they hope to be their busiest year yet, conducting its customary static fire test ahead of the upcoming Paz and Starlink demosats launch. The static fire took place on Sunday. Launch is scheduled for February 17 from Vandenberg Air Force Base SLC-4E. SpaceX has also been upgrading many facilities…
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SpaceX set to launch first prototype Starlink satellites for global internet
SpaceX’s Redmond office is the center for its satellite operations. (GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota) The first test satellites for SpaceX’s global internet constellation are being prepped for launch — three years after SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unveiled the project in Seattle. The prototype spacecraft, known as Microsat 2a and 2b, are reportedly to be…
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Falcon Heavy success paves the way for open access to space beyond Earth
It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: Tuesday was a momentous and historic day in the history of space exploration as SpaceX successfully conducted the maiden flight of its Falcon Heavy rocket – a heavy lift vehicle capable of placing 140,000 lbs into Low Earth Orbit. But beyond the sheer numbers of its capabilities,…
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Did NASA pass up SpaceX offer for Falcon Heavy payload? Former NASA official raises questions
Former NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver hears from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. (Lori Garver via Twitter) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk makes it sound as if he always wanted to put a Tesla Roadster, and not much else, on top of the Falcon Heavy rocket for this week’s historic maiden launch. But NASA’s former deputy administrator,…
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Good news for Starman: Spacefaring Tesla Roadster will miss Mars and asteroids
A camera mounted on the spacefaring Tesla Roadster shows Starman in the driver’s seat with Earth essentially in the rear-view mirror. (SpaceX Photo via Instagram / Elon Musk) It took a day or two, but astronomers have figured out where the Tesla Roadster launched into deep space aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is going. And…
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Audio: Elon Musk speaks with reporters after Falcon Heavy test launch
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk briefed reporters on the status of the Falcon Heavy test flight, and several of the company’s other projects, shortly after the huge rocket lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon Heavy took off from launch pad 39A at the Florida spaceport at 3:45 p.m. EST…