Space Systems/Loral – Page 3

Falcon 9 rocket test-fired for weekend launch

July 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

Nine Merlin engines on the first stage of SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket briefly fired up on a Cape Canaveral launch pad Wednesday, and the launcher cleared a customary pre-flight checkout in preparation for liftoff early Sunday with a Canadian-owned communications satellite.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s second upgraded “Block 5” booster test-fired in Florida

July 18, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is preparing this week for the second flight of the upgraded “Block 5” version of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket, and a hold-down firing of the booster was accomplished Wednesday at Cape Canaveral ahead of a middle-of-the-night launch this weekend with a Canadian-owned commercial communications satellite. The static fire test occurred at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 GMT) Wednesday.

Arianespace aims for busy second half of 2018

July 3, 2018 Stephen Clark

Europe’s first mission to Mercury, a quartet of Galileo navigation spacecraft, the world’s first global winds observatory, and a new European weather satellite have arrived at an equatorial launch base in French Guiana in preparation for launches in the coming months.

Concerns with Indian satellite postpone next Ariane 5 launch

April 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

India’s most powerful communications satellite will soon be flown back to its manufacturing plant in Bangalore for additional checks, officials said this week, forcing Arianespace to scrap plans for an Ariane 5 launch in late May that was to be co-manifested with a U.S.-built television broadcast satellite for Intelsat and the government of Azerbaijan.

DigitalGlobe books two launches with SpaceX for Earth-imaging fleet

March 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two Falcon 9 rockets with reused first stage boosters will place the initial block of DigitalGlobe’s commercial WorldView Legion satellite fleet in orbit in 2021, the Earth-imaging company recently announced.

SpaceX’s most recent launch carried a secret military-funded experiment

March 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceX’s most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket lights up the night with launch for Hispasat

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight took off from Florida’s Space Coast shortly after midnight Tuesday with the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite, firing into a moonlit night sky with 1.7 million pounds of thrust.

Hefty Hispasat satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Spanish-owned, U.S.-built commercial communications satellite climbed into orbit early Tuesday from Cape Canaveral on the 50th flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launching on a 15-year mission to relay video, data and broadband signals across the Americas, Europe and North Africa.

Video: Deployment of the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite from the Falcon 9 rocket

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

The Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, set to begin a 15-year telecommunications mission, deployed from the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket around 33 minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Tuesday.

Video: SpaceX’s 50th Falcon 9 rocket flight lifts off from Cape Canaveral

March 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched shortly after midnight Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with Hispasat 30W-6, a communications satellite heading for a position more than 22,000 miles over the equator to serve markets in Europe, North Africa and the Americas.