Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX conducts tanking test on In-Flight Abort Falcon 9
As preparations continue for next week’s Falcon 9 launch of the CRS-6 Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX’s Vandenberg team has put the In-Flight abort booster through a tanking test. The unique Falcon 9 – sporting just three engines – will be tasked with lofting a Dragon 2 test vehicle into the Max-Drag region of…
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SpaceX on track for cargo launch Monday
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule is prepared for launch Monday. Credit: SpaceX Weather forecasters will be on the lookout for rain showers and thunderstorms during Monday’s scheduled launch of a SpaceX cargo craft to the International Space Station, but there is a 60 percent chance conditions at Cape Canaveral will permit liftoff. SpaceX ground crews have mated…
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SpaceX preparing for a busy season of missions and test milestones
SpaceX is set for a salvo of events over the coming months, ranging from resupply runs to the International Space Station, to abort test objectives for its Dragon 2 program. The company envisions two launches of its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket in April, followed by a pad abort test in early May – all conducted…
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SpaceX, Sierra Nevada get more time to finish flight tests
The Dragon capsule for SpaceX’s pad abort test seen inside a test chamber. Credit: SpaceX NASA has extended development agreements with SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. past a March 31 deadline, giving the companies more time to complete delayed tests on commercial spacecraft intended to one day ferry astronauts into space. The extensions do not…
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SpaceX cargo launch now set for April 13
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo carrier prepared for launch on a previous mission. Credit: SpaceX The launch of SpaceX’s next resupply run to the International Space Station has been rescheduled for April 13, officials said Tuesday. The Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral was due for no earlier than…
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Elon Musk makes SpaceX photos free for public use
Photo via SpaceX/Falcon 9 Vertical Talk about responsive. Less than an hour after Elon Musk announced that SpaceX would post photos for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, he decided to go for the full public domain, when pressed by another’s tweet. Also, kudos to Musk for his new Dr. Evil-inspired profile pic. SpaceX…
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KSC Pads continue preparations for future vehicles
Both of the iconic pads at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) are being revamped for their roles with new launch vehicles. Pad 39B is set to receive additional Catacomb Roof reinforcements to cope with the massive SLS Block 1B rocket, while Pad 39A’s landscape continues to change with modifications at the pad and the construction of…
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SpaceX swaps order of next two Falcon 9 launches
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral before a liftoff in April 2014. Credit: NASA/Glenn Benson Confronted with pesky problems in the Falcon 9 rocket’s helium pressurization system, SpaceX has shuffled the order of the next two launches, choosing to go ahead with the liftoff…
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Spaceport America set for SpaceX reusability testing
SpaceX’s reusability aspirations will receive further testing at Spaceport America, in the shape of the first successfully recovered Falcon 9 first stage. The New Mexico spaceport will host the recovered booster – potentially the core stage from the upcoming CRS-6 mission, if recovered – for an additional flight to find hardware limits, paving the way for…
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SpaceX puts off next Falcon 9 launch
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s next launch with a European-built communications satellite has been delayed to no earlier than March 28 to study a problem with a helium pressurization system on the Falcon 9 rocket, officials said Tuesday. The liftoff was set for…