Tag: SpaceX
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Bulgariasat launch realigns; SpaceX secures X-37B launch contract
SpaceX has realigned the launch date for the Bulgariasat-1 mission, which due to a two day launch delay with CRS-11 is now targeting launch No Earlier Than Saturday, 17 June – continuing the company’s cadence of one launch every two weeks. More impressively, SpaceX has also officially landed a contract with the Air Force for…
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SpaceX’s CRS-11 Dragon captured by Station for a second time
For the first time since 2011, a previously-flown spacecraft has arrived at the International Space Station. The CRS-11 Dragon from SpaceX – which was previously used on the CRS-4 mission in Sept.-Oct. 2014 – was capture and berthed to the ISS following a flawless 41-hour orbital rendezvous. The capture came ahead of schedule at 09:52…
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Prince gets a shout-out as reused SpaceX Dragon capsule links up with space station
What do Prince and SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule, freshly arrived at the International Space Station, have in common? NASA astronaut Jack Fischer referred to the late musician today after he and his crewmates used the station’s robotic arm to latch onto the Dragon for its berthing at 6:52 a.m. PT. The robotic spacecraft, which was launched…
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SpaceX launches its first refurbished Dragon cargo ship to the space station
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Florida. (NASA TV) SpaceX took one more step in its campaign for rocket reusability today by sending a previously flown Dragon cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station for the first time. If all goes well, it should mark the first space station rendezvous for a reused spaceship since…
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Falcon 9 launches with CRS-11 Dragon on 100th 39A launch
SpaceX launched its first re-used Dragon spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 on Saturday, beginning the CRS-11 resupply mission to the International Space Station. The first attempt was scrubbed during the initial attempt due to poor weather, meaning Falcon 9 lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center – making the hundredth flight from the historic Launch…
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Video: SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket at pad 39A
Four days before its scheduled blastoff on a resupply run to the International Space Station, a Falcon 9 rocket ran through a countdown rehearsal and engine test Sunday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The two-stage rocket was fueled with kerosene and liquid oxygen Sunday morning, then ignited its nine Merlin 1D main engines…
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SpaceX static fires CRS-11 Falcon 9 Sunday ahead of ISS mission
SpaceX has static fired their Falcon 9 rocket tasked with lofting the CRS-11/SPX-11 Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station on Sunday ahead of a planned launch on Thursday afternoon at 17:55 EDT (21:55 UTC). The company had intended to conduct the static fire on Saturday before remarkably advancing that forward to Friday. Technical…
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Observers spot top secret satellite launched by SpaceX earlier this month
Credit: SpaceX A network of amateur skywatchers and satellite observers have located a classified spacecraft owned by the National Reconnaissance Office, a U.S. government intelligence agency, in low Earth orbit after its launch May 1 from Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Using orbital predictions derived from publicly-available information about the launcher’s trajectory, Leo…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 in flawless Inmarsat-5 F4 launch
SpaceX conducted its sixth launch of the year Monday, with a Falcon 9 rocket deploying the Inmarsat-5 F4 communications satellite. Liftoff, from the Kennedy Space Center, was on schedule at the opening of a 51-minute launch window at 19:20 local time (23:20 UTC). The booster – as planned – did not return for a landing due…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends Inmarsat telecom satellite to high-flying orbit
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rises from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending an Inmarsat satellite into space. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket today launched the Inmarsat-5 F4 telecommunications satellite to a geostationary transfer orbit ranging beyond 22,000 miles in height – so high that there was no chance to…