Tag: SpaceX
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Repairs taking place on SpaceX drone ship following SES-11 booster landing
SpaceX’s drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” is undergoing repairs at Port Canaveral following the return of Falcon 9 booster B1031.2 after launching the SES-11 satellite. While the touchdown was nominal, a post-landing incident resulted in a short fire at the aft of the ship, which also damaged the robot that was to…
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Iridium-4 switches to flight-proven Falcon 9, RTLS at Vandenberg delayed
Iridium Communications – in the midst of launching their next generation communications constellation – has formally signed an agreement with SpaceX to utilize flight-proven Falcon 9 boosters on their upcoming Iridium NEXT-4 and -5 missions. Iridium NEXT-4, scheduled to launch NET 22 December 2017 from SLC-4E, will be the first flight-proven Falcon 9 mission from…
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SpaceX adds mystery “Zuma” mission, Iridium-4 aims for Vandenberg landing
In what has already been a busy year for SpaceX, the commercial launch provider is adding one more mission to its jammed-packed end-of-year schedule. A mysterious mission codenamed “Zuma” will launch No Earlier Than 10 November 2017 from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Meanwhile, CRS-13 is slipping at least one week per the Station’s…
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Elon Musk will chat about his big rocket plans with SpaceX fans on Reddit
An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s BFR launch vehicle blasting off from a floating pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) Two weeks after SpaceX founder Elon Musk updated his vision for a monster rocket designed to take settlers to the moon and Mars, he’s taking questions from his fans today during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session. Musk says…
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk explains how his big rocket’s short hops will lead to giant leaps
SpaceX founder Elon Musk discusses his plan to build a “Big Falcon Spaceship” at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia. Musk followed up with an “Ask Me Anything” chat on Reddit. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX CEO says he “chickened out” and made the design for the monster spaceship he’s planning to send to Mars a…
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SpaceX seeks FCC approval to test satellite communications system in Seattle area
SpaceX’s Redmond office is the center for its satellite operations. (GeekWire photo by Kevin Lisota) SpaceX has filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission to begin ground testing of a satellite communications system between its facilities in Redmond, Wash., as early as this month. Redmond is the base of operations for SpaceX’s multibillion-dollar effort…
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SpaceX launches a satellite and lands a Falcon 9 booster for second time this week
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the SES-11/Echostar-105 telecommunications satellite. (SpaceX via YouTube) Good things came in threes for SpaceX today: For the third time, it used a previously flown Falcon 9 rocket booster to send a payload into space, and had that booster…
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Falcon 9 conducts second launch this week with SES-11 mission
SpaceX launched its third re-flown Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, carrying the EchoStar-105/SES-11 communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit for SES and EchoStar. Liftoff, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center took place at the opening of a two-hour window at 18:53 Eastern Time (22:53 UTC), with the booster landing successfully. SpaceX Launch: Flying…
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Falcon 9 conducts second launch this week with SES-11 mission
SpaceX launched its third re-flown Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, carrying the EchoStar-105/SES-11 communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit for SES and EchoStar. Liftoff, from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center took place at the opening of a two-hour window at 18:53 Eastern Time (22:53 UTC), with the booster landing successfully. SpaceX Launch: Flying…
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SpaceX launches 10 satellites for Iridium, then lands Falcon 9 booster at sea
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base. (USAF via YouTube) SpaceX launched its third batch of 10 Iridium Next communications satellites from California today on a Falcon 9 rocket, then brought down the first-stage booster for a landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The launch was the…