Falcon 9 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: SpaceX launches NRO payload, lands booster at Cape Canaveral

December 17, 2020

SpaceX’s final Falcon 9 launch of the year carried a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency. SpaceX aborted a launch attempt Thursday morning to assess a second stage sensor reading, but the Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT) Saturday. The rocket’s stage landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes later.

NRO using SpaceX’s commercial launch service for spy satellite payload

December 16, 2020

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to take off Thursday from Florida’s Space Coast with a secret cargo for the National Reconnaissance Office, which broke with standard practice to procure the launch commercially, outside of the government’s established contracting schemes.

SiriusXM satellite rides SpaceX rocket into orbit

December 13, 2020

A hefty new satellite to beam SiriusXM radio programming across North America rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Sunday from Cape Canaveral on course to replace an aging broadcast station launched more than 15 years ago.

Watch as a Falcon 9 launches with a Sirius XM satellite (members only)

December 13, 2020

Watch video of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the Maxar-built SXM 7 radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM on Dec. 13.

SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch attempt with SiriusXM satellite

December 11, 2020

SpaceX called off the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket Friday at Cape Canaveral, halting the countdown less than a minute before liftoff to allow time to perform additional ground system checkouts before the mission’s next launch opportunity no earlier than Sunday.

Live coverage: SpaceX’s launches SiriusXM satellite

December 11, 2020

After calling a hold less than a minute before liftoff Friday, SpaceX launched the Maxar-built SXM 7 radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM Sunday. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral at 12:30 p.m. EST (1730 GMT).

SpaceX plans to cap busy week with launch of satellite for SiriusXM

December 11, 2020

A massive radio broadcasting satellite for SiriusXM is set for liftoff Friday on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, punctuating a busy week for SpaceX that included the debut of a new-generation cargo ship for the International Space Station and a spectacular atmospheric test flight of a prototype rocket over South Texas.

SpaceX launches first in new line of upgraded space station cargo ships

December 6, 2020

An upgraded version of SpaceX’s Dragon cargo freighter launched Sunday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, loaded with 3.2 tons of supplies and experiments in the first of at least nine resupply flights to the International Space Station under a new NASA contract.

Photos: Upgraded Dragon cargo capsule rolls out to pad 39A

December 4, 2020

Ready for a flight to the International Space Station, SpaceX’s first upgraded Dragon cargo capsule rolled out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week in preparation for launch on top of a Falcon 9 rocket.

Space station to receive new commercial airlock from Nanoracks

December 4, 2020

A privately-funded airlock from Nanoracks will head for the International Space Station this weekend in the trunk of a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule, adding to the orbiting lab’s capacity for scientific experiments in another milestone for commercial space development.