News – Page 511 – Spaceflight Now

Fresh views of Saturday’s Falcon 9 rocket launch

January 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

Check out more imagery of Saturday’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, including pictures from remote cameras at the launch pad and new video released by the U.S. Air Force.

Astronaut Gene Cernan, last Apollo moonwalker, dies at 82

January 16, 2017 William Harwood

Former astronaut Gene Cernan, a Navy pilot and veteran of NASA’s pioneering Gemini program who was the second American to walk in space and then flew to the moon twice as an Apollo astronaut, becoming the last human to leave his bootprints on its dusty surface, died Monday after a long illness. He was 82.

Experimental flight of Japanese sounding rocket falls short of orbit

January 16, 2017 Stephen Clark

A small research rocket launched from Japan fell into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday after attempting to send a student-built CubeSat into orbit, Japanese officials said.

Photos: Falcon 9 returns to flight with weekend launch from California

January 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

Launching for the first time in four-and-a-half months, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday morning with 10 satellites for Iridium’s space-based message relay network.

Weather forecast now 80 percent ‘go’ for Thursday’s Atlas 5 rocket launch

January 15, 2017 Justin Ray

Meteorologists are anticipating favorable odds of good weather during the countdown to launch an Atlas 5 rocket and U.S. military satellite on Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral.

Watch as Falcon 9 launches with 10 Iridium satellites and its first stage lands

January 15, 2017 Spaceflight Now

Watch the first SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch since a catastrophic launch pad explosion at Cape Canaveral. The Falcon 9 first stage was successfully recovered after landing on a floating platform in the Pacific.

SpaceX resumes flights with on-target launch for Iridium

January 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket climbed into orbit from California’s Central Coast on Saturday, resuming service after an explosive setback last year and delivering much-needed reinforcements to Iridium’s satellite constellation providing communications by land, sea and sky.

Skywatchers: Get your Iridium flare fix now

January 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of the first batch of new-generation Iridium communications satellites Saturday marked the beginning of the end for the predictable, spectacular flares of reflected sunlight produced by the old-design craft, a favorite of amateur skywatchers for nearly two decades.

Live coverage: SpaceX resumes launches from California

January 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first launch since August took off Saturday from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. A Falcon 9 rocket deployed the first 10 next-generation Iridium communications satellites, part of a $3 billion upgrade to the company’s space network. Liftoff occurred at 9:54 a.m. PST (12:54 p.m. EST; 1754 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s first stage landed on a barge in the Pacific a few minutes later.

Timeline for Falcon 9 rocket’s launch of 10 Iridium satellites

January 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the first 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet.