Tag: SpaceX
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Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. Navy communications satellite in January 2015. Credit: ULA The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent…
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SpaceX prepares for next two missions via McGregor testing
SpaceX’s rocket stages are deep into their test and processing flows, ahead of two missions currently set to take place in April. Both missions are at opposite ends of their test flows at SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas – with CRS-8 hardware set to depart for Florida while the Falcon 9 first stage tasked…
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SpaceX’s Elon Musk turns the talk from Donald Trump to reaching Mars by 2025
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shows President Barack Obama around the company’s Cape Canaveral rocket processing site in 2010. (Credit: Bill Ingalls / NASA) SpaceX’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, has had to bat down all sorts of reports about political associations over the past couple of weeks – and the strategy that seems to work the best…
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SNC handover 11 OG2 satellites following in-orbit checkouts
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems has successfully completed all in-orbit checkout procedures for the final 11 satellites in the ORBCOMM Generation 2 (OG2) constellation. The fleet of satellites were successfully launched by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket during her return to flight mission at the end of 2015. OG2: The satellites were designed and built…
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Photos: Sunset sendoff for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket
A final set of photos shows Friday’s Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral with the SES 9 communications satellite. The 229-foot-tall rocket lifted off at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT) from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, soaring east over the Atlantic Ocean about 10 minutes after sunset. Consuming a super-chilled mix of kerosene and…
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Photos: Falcon 9 takes off at sunset
A Falcon 9 launcher bolted into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast on Friday, adding the brilliant orange glare of rocket exhaust to a spectacular sunset as the 229-foot-tall booster propelled the SES 9 communications satellite into orbit to serve the Asia-Pacific with high-definition television programming and connectivity on-the-go. SpaceX’s kerosene-fueled rocket fired up at…
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SpaceX’s satellite launch works like a charm, but rocket makes hard landing
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Credit: SpaceX) After coping with a wayward boat, unfavorable winds and propellant problems, SpaceX launched the SES-9 telecommunication satellite on its Falcon 9 rocket today, then tried unsuccessfully to land the rocket’s first stage on an oceangoing platform. The…
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Photos: Sun sets on Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral
Check out photos of a picturesque sunset at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where a Falcon 9 rocket is poised for liftoff with a commercial broadcasting satellite for Luxembourg-based SES. Photo credit: SpaceX Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
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Watch another view of the Falcon 9’s last-second abort
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket got within a second of liftoff Sunday before a low-thrust alarm triggered an automatic abort. Watch a view of the dramatic last-second countdown cutoff at engine ignition from our camera at the launch pad. Video credit: Alex Polimeni / Spaceflight Now Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.
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Photos: Falcon 9 awaits liftoff
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is awaiting liftoff from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad as soon as Tuesday after three scrubs caused by propellant loading problems and a boat that strayed into restricted waters in the Atlantic Ocean. These photos from the past few days show the 229-foot-tall rocket on the launch pad, crowned by…