Mission Reports – Page 417

December 10, 2023

Breaking News

[ December 8, 2023 ] Falcon 9 flies from California with 22 Starlink satellites, SpaceX’s 100th launch in 365 days Falcon 9
[ December 6, 2023 ] SpaceX sends 23 Starlink satellites to orbit on 90th Falcon launch of 2023 Falcon 9
[ December 6, 2023 ] Three robotic missions target Moon landings over one week in January Falcon 9
[ December 3, 2023 ] SpaceX conducts static fire test ahead of fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023 Falcon Heavy
[ December 2, 2023 ] SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission Falcon 9

Falcon 9 rocket to give SES 9 telecom satellite an extra boost

February 24, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and SES, owner of a 5.8-ton commercial telecom satellite poised for launch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday, struck a deal to tweak the Falcon 9 rocket’s launch profile to give the SES 9 spacecraft a stronger push toward its operating post more than 22,000 miles above Earth.

SES eager to fly satellite aboard used Falcon 9 rocket

February 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

In one of the strongest public endorsements of SpaceX’s initiative to put a reusable launcher on the commercial market, a top official from satellite communications giant SES said Tuesday that the company wants to fly one of its pricey payloads on a used Falcon 9 rocket, perhaps even without a test flight.

Flight timeline for Falcon 9’s launch of SES 9

February 23, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the SES 9 television broadcast satellite into orbit 31 minutes later.

Falcon 9 clears static fire test before launch this week

February 22, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s launch team in Cape Canaveral fueled a Falcon 9 rocket with super-chilled liquid propellants and briefly fired the first stage’s nine Merlin engines Monday in a customary preflight test ahead of Wednesday’s scheduled liftoff of a commercial television broadcasting satellite for the Asia-Pacific.

ExoMars orbiter and lander mated for final time

February 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

European technicians working at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan have bolted an Italian-built Mars lander to its mothership ahead of a March 14 launch toward the red planet.

Photos: H-2A rocket soars on groundbreaking astronomy mission

February 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

Burning a mixture of super-cold liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and pre-packed solid propellant, Japan’s H-2A rocket vaulted into a deep blue evening sky over the beaches of Tanegashima Island on Wednesday with a satellite that will see the surroundings of black holes better than ever before.

Live coverage: Cygnus cargo freighter departs space station

February 19, 2016 Stephen Clark

A commercial supply ship owned and operated by Orbital ATK departed the International Space Station on Friday, heading for a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean with more than 1.5 tons of trash. The station’s robotic arm released Cygnus at 1226 GMT (7:26 a.m. EST).

Black hole observatory launched from Japan

February 17, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan launched a pioneering observatory with X-ray vision Wednesday to peer into the mysterious, light-starved neighborhoods around black holes and study the genesis of galaxies and other cosmic mega-structures billions of light-years from Earth.

Live coverage: H-2A rocket delivers on 30th flight

February 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

Japan’s Astro-H mission, an X-ray astronomy observatory designed to shed light on black holes and the unseen structure of the universe, lifted off aboard an H-2A rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center at 0845 GMT (3:45 a.m. EST) Wednesday.

Live coverage: European ocean survey satellite launches from Russia

February 16, 2016 Stephen Clark

A European environmental satellite launched Tuesday from Russia’s Plesetsk Cosmodrome to begin a mission of at least seven years measuring the height, color and temperature of the world’s oceans. The Sentinel 3A spacecraft lifted off aboard a Rockot booster at 1757 GMT (12:57 p.m. EST).