Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX Falcon 9 successfully launches third set of Iridium-NEXT satellites
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base Monday, before succcessfully deploying the third batch of ten Iridium-NEXT communications satellites into low Earth orbit. Liftoff from SLC-4E occurred on schedule during an instantaneous launch opportunity at 05:37 local time (12:37 UTC), with the booster successfully returning to the drone ship. Falcon 9…
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SpaceX static fires Falcon 9 for Iridium 3, Vandenberg manifest realigns
SpaceX completed a Static Fire test at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thursday. The test, a pivotal pre-launch requirement of the fully integrated Falcon 9, comes close on the heels of the company’s previous test at its Florida launch facility. The Iridium NEXT 3 launch is slated for Monday, 9 October 2017 at 05:37 PDT…
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SpaceX conducts static fire on Falcon 9 preparing for SES-11 flight
Following the cheers and gasps of Elon Musk’s latest BFR update in Australia, SpaceX is preparing to return to the bread and butter of its Falcon 9 manifest, opening with a Static Fire test at Kennedy Space Center’s 39A. The test – completed part way into the six hour test window – is an important…
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Elon Musk revises Mars plan, hopes for boots on ground in 2024
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s concept for a Mars outpost serviced by reusable spaceships. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX plans to begin construction of a new rocket and spacecraft next year that could lead to human landings on Mars as early as 2024, scaling up technologies currently being perfected with the…
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Sizing up billionaire Elon Musk’s big bet on SpaceX’s Big Frickin’ Rocket of the future
An artist’s conception shows SpaceX’s BFR super-rocket docked to the International Space Station. (SpaceX Illustration) SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s rocket roadmap just got much bigger than Mars. Now the question is, who else will follow the map? The first answers to that question may well start emerging next week, when government officials and space industry…
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The Moon, Mars, & around the Earth – Musk updates BFR architecture, plans
Speaking at the 2017 International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide, Australia, Elon Musk has laid out a much anticipated update to SpaceX’s Mars colonization plan – including a slightly scaled back version of the BFR vehicle introduced last year. Included in this update, excitingly, was the announcement of the company’s aim to establish a human base…
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Elon Musk’s updated vision for Mars also shoots for the moon and much, much more
An artist’s conception shows the SpaceX vision for “Moon Base Alpha.” (Elon Musk via Instagram) SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has added moon missions to his grand plan for Mars, in a bid to capitalize on what’s expected to be the Trump administration’s shift in space policy. Lunar operations at “Moon Base Alpha” are among the…
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SpaceX realign near-term manifest ahead of double launch salvo
SpaceX is deep into pre-launch preparations for two upcoming missions that are set to lift off within a couple of days of each other. Both target launch dates have moved to the right by a matter of days, with the SES-11 mission from KSC’s 39A now tracking an October 7 departure, while on the West…
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk is setting up his fans for a surprise during Mars mission update
One year after unveling his plan for Mars settlement at the International Astronautical Congress in Mexico, SpaceX founder Elon Musk will return to the IAC stage this week in Australia.. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX founder Elon Musk says he’ll unveil “major improvements and some unexpected applications” this week when he updates his plan for sending…
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SpaceX seeks to trademark the name ‘Starlink’ for satellite broadband network
A SpaceX satellite coverage scheme described in a patent application envisions two sets of satellites orbiting in different inclinations at different altitudes. (PatentYogi via YouTube) SpaceX has filed documents seeking to trademark the name “Starlink” for a satellite network that could provide global broadband access to data and video services as well as Earth imagery…