Mission Reports – Page 229

SpaceX to reuse payload fairing for first time on Nov. 11 launch

November 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX launch set for Nov. 11 will mark the first Falcon 9 mission to use a payload fairing from a previous flight, the company announced Tuesday, shortly after SpaceX engineers at Cape Canaveral test-fired the mission’s first stage booster, also refurbished and reused.

Watch the static fire of the Falcon 9 being readied for Starlink mission

November 5, 2019 Spaceflight Now

A Falcon 9 rocket fires its nine Merlin first stage engines at Cape Canaveral’s launch pad 40 Nov. 5, 2019, as part of a routine pre-launch test. The successful static fire clears the way for the launch of 60 Starlink satellites, currently scheduled for Nov. 11.

Live coverage: SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket for Starlink launch

November 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday at Cape Canaveral for the company’s next launch, which is set for takeoff Monday at around 9:56 a.m. EST (1456 GMT). The rocket will launch with the next batch of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites, the company’s first launch since early August. There is an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for launch Monday.

Another Beidou satellite launched by China

November 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Chinese Long March 3B rocket successfully carried a new Beidou navigation satellite into orbit Monday, continuing a brisk launch cadence at the country’s launch sites.

Space station receives spacewalking gear, new baking oven

November 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir took control of the International Space Station’s Canadian-built robot arm Monday to capture a Northrop Grumman Cygnus supply ship carrying crew provisions, spacewalking gear to repair an aging particle physics experiment, tech demo satellites for the U.S. military, and an oven to bake the first cookies in space.

Chinese mapping satellite launches on Long March 4B rocket

November 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Earth observation satellite designed to collect three-dimensional mapping imagery rode a Long March 4B rocket into orbit Sunday with three smaller spacecraft, including one to test an innovative French-made iodine thruster, and another satellite built for Sudan.

Space station resupply mission successfully launches from Virginia

November 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket, upgraded to carry heavier payloads into orbit, lifted off Saturday from a launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore with a Cygnus supply ship in pursuit of the International Space Station with fresh food, a collection of biological and technology demonstration experiments, a zero-g baking oven, and repair gear for an aging $2 billion particle physics experiment.

Solar Orbiter arrives at Kennedy Space Center for launch preps

November 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

The European-built Solar Orbiter spacecraft arrived in Florida late Friday after a trans-Atlantic journey from a test center in Germany, ready to begin preparations for a liftoff from Cape Canaveral in February aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.

Antares launch timeline on the NG-12 mission

November 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket will deliver a Cygnus supply ship into orbit Saturday to begin a two-day pursuit of the International Space Station.

Live coverage: Cygnus spacecraft arrives at space station

November 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship arrive at the International Space Station Monday carrying around 4.1 tons of supplies, experiments and small research CubeSats. The automated spacecraft was captured by the station’s robotic arm at 4:10 a.m. EST (0910 GMT) Monday to close out a two-day flight from a launch pad in Virginia.