News – Page 436 – Spaceflight Now

Falcon 9 set to launch Inmarsat satellite for in-flight wifi, mobile broadband

May 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket arrived at launch pad 39A on Florida’s Space Coast on Sunday, a day before liftoff with a powerhouse Inmarsat communications satellite designed to spread broadband beams connecting airline passengers, maritime crews and U.S. and international military units with Internet and data services.

NASA rules out crew on first SLS flight

May 12, 2017 William Harwood

NASA managers have ruled out putting a crew on board an Orion capsule atop the agency’s huge Space Launch System rocket for the gargantuan booster’s maiden flight in 2019, citing technical risks and higher costs, up to as much as $900 million, agency officials said Friday.

Astronauts complete shortened spacewalk outside International Space Station

May 12, 2017 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Peggy Whitson and Jack Fischer put on spacesuits Friday and headed outside the International Space Station for several repair and maintenance tasks, but the duo only completed part of their originally planned work after a leaky cooling umbilical delayed the start of their spacewalk.

After static fire, Falcon 9 prepares to meet Inmarsat payload

May 11, 2017 Stephen Clark

Ten days after the last liftoff from historic launch pad 39A in Florida, another SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited its Merlin main engines for several seconds in a hold-down firing Thursday ahead of a planned expendable flight next week with an Inmarsat communications satellite.

Video: Falcon 9 hot fire

May 11, 2017 Justin Ray

The SpaceX launch team fired the Falcon 9 main engines at pad 39A today as a readiness test for next week’s Inmarsat satellite deployment flight.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket set for launch Monday

May 11, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set for launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday with a mobile broadband communications satellite for Inmarsat.

First core of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fired in Texas

May 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

The center section of SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket has been test-fired at the launch company’s test facility in Central Texas, a sign of progress toward the behemoth booster’s long-delayed maiden mission scheduled some time in the final months of 2017.

Satellite for broadband on-the-go next in rapid-fire SpaceX launch campaign

May 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

A powerhouse communications satellite owned by Inmarsat has been fueled for liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Monday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a mission to provide broadband links for passengers and crews aboard ships and airplanes, while technicians are loading space station-bound supplies into a commercial Dragon cargo capsule and preparing a Bulgarian telecom for launch on two other SpaceX boosters by mid-June.

Cassini downlinks view of Titan’s methane clouds on third loop inside rings

May 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

The Cassini spacecraft captured a captivating image of wispy methane clouds suspended above Titan’s hydrocarbon lakes as the probe headed for its third shot through Saturn’s ring gap Tuesday.

James Webb Space Telescope shipped to Texas for its biggest test yet

May 9, 2017 Stephen Clark

The centerpiece of the James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for a three-month test to ensure the observatory’s sensors and gold-coated mirrors work in the frigid temperatures of deep space.