Live coverage of Hurricane Dorian’s impacts on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Falcon 9
Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in hold-down test at Cape Canaveral
SpaceX rolled out a reused Falcon 9 booster for a hold-down engine firing Wednesday at pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making the first use of the launch complex since a rocket exploded there in September 2016. The static fire test accomplished Wednesday was a key step in preparations for launch of a space station cargo ship Dec. 12.
Mission Reports
Facing more delays, NASA opens door to launching lunar mission with commercial rockets
In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining the lunar test flight’s schedule despite fresh delays in the development of the multibillion-dollar Space Launch System that jeopardize the heavy-lifter’s 2020 inaugural flight, the agency’s administrator said in a congressional hearing Wednesday.
Falcon 9
SpaceX reaches 19 flights with a Falcon 9 booster for a third time with Starlink mission
SpaceX managed to thread the needle with the weather and launch the first of two planned Starlink missions from Cape Canaveral in 48 hours. A Falcon 9 rocket launched from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Saturday at 11:09 p.m. EDT (0309 UTC on Sunday). It will be followed by another Falcon 9 from nearby pad 40 on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Monday.