Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship returns to Earth
The SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule descends to the Pacific Ocean on Saturday. Credit: SpaceX Wrapping up SpaceX’s fourth operational resupply flight to the International Space Station, a Dragon cargo capsule departed the high-flying research complex Saturday, dropped out of orbit and descended to a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California with…
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Return of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft delayed
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft is attached to the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Credit: NASA Rough seas in the Pacific Ocean will keep SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule in space a few days longer than planned, with the unpiloted supply ship’s return to Earth now set for Saturday hauling a load of research specimens from the International…
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KSC continuing its spaceport transition for the new era
It’s been over three years since the world famous Kennedy Space Center (KSC) last felt the rumble of a launch from within its grounds. However, the spaceport hasn’t fallen completely silent, as a realignment of the center’s role continues apace, ahead of the new era of commercial and government launches that may ultimately result in humans…
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SpaceX launching Seattle-area office, recruiting squadrons of Microsoft engineers
Elon Musk Space Exploration Technologies, the Elon Musk-owned company better known as SpaceX, has been heavily recruiting engineers from Microsoft and other companies in the region as it gears up a new Seattle-area office. Recent status updates on LinkedIn show several former Microsoft engineers in the Seattle region joining SpaceX within the past month, and we’re hearing…
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Construction of Texas launch site to begin next year
SpaceX broke ground on a new commercial spaceport Sept. 22 on the shores of South Texas, committing to the construction of the world’s first privately-owned satellite launch pad scheduled to be operational as soon as late 2016. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Texas, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Texas Gov. Rick Perry break ground on the South…
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SpaceX’s CRS-4 Dragon completes Tuesday arrival at ISS
The latest SpaceX Dragon – and her crew of “Mousetronauts” – arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday. The orbital ballet between the giant orbital outpost and the commercial spacecraft resulted in the CRS-4 Dragon being captured by the Station’s “big arm” at 06:52 Eastern, ahead of berthing operations that were completed a…
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SpaceX conducts Sunday morning CRS-4 Dragon launch
SpaceX has launched the second Dragon mission of 2014, with a Falcon 9 v1.1 lofting the cargo spacecraft into orbit on a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Following a weather-related scrub on Saturday morning, liftoff from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral occurred without issue at 1:52am Eastern early on Sunday. CRS-4: Coming less…
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Falcon 9 v1.1 conducts Static Fire ahead of CRS-4 launch
SpaceX is on track to launch another Falcon 9 v1.1, just 13 days after the ASIASAT-6 mission lifted off from SLC-40. The next launch – tasked with lofting the CRS-4/SpX-4 Dragon en route to the International Space Station (ISS) – remains on target for the early hours of September 20, after a Static Fire test…
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Dream Chaser misses out on CCtCAP – Dragon and CST-100 win through
Just weeks ago, it was widely believed both SpaceX’s Dragon V2 and SNC’s Dream Chaser spacecraft were likely to progress into the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) phase of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. On Tuesday, NASA announced Boeing’s CST-100 was the winner of billions of dollars alongside the SpaceX spacecraft. CCtCAP: The three main Commercial Crew…
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Soyuz TMA-12M returns ISS trio to Earth – Dragon up next
Expedition 40 commander Steven Swanson, along with cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, have returned to Earth in their Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft on Wednesday. The trio undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 7:01pm Eastern, ahead of a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 10:23pm. Meanwhile, the launch of the next SpaceX Dragon…