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SpaceX adds abort function for Dragon cargo flights
Taking a lesson from a launch mishap last June, SpaceX wrote coded commands for future Dragon cargo capsules to deploy their parachutes for an emergency landing in the event of rocket failures, starting with Friday's resupply flight to the International Space Station.
Timeline for the Falcon 9 rocket’s 23rd flight
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in 10 minutes Friday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying nearly 7,000 pounds of supplies and experiments.
SpaceX ready to return to the space station
Ground crews loaded time-critical experiments, including 20 mice to help scientists study muscle atrophy, into SpaceX's commercial Dragon cargo capsule Thursday, a day before a launch planned from Cape Canaveral toward the International Space Station.
Mostly clear skies predicted for Friday’s SpaceX launch
Mostly clear skies and brisk westerly winds are forecast at launch time Friday afternoon for SpaceX's first resupply mission to the International Space Station in nearly a year.
Static fire complete in run-up to launch of SpaceX supply ship
SpaceX ran a Falcon 9 rocket through a customary preflight checkout Tuesday, filling it with super-cold propellants and firing its nine Merlin first stage engines in preparation for liftoff Friday on a resupply run to the International Space Station.
SpaceX hopes to raise launch tempo after space station flight
SpaceX is targeting April 8 for the launch of its first resupply run to the International Space Station in nearly a year, a mission that the company hopes will mark the start of a rapid-fire launch manifest full of payloads waiting to fly.
VideoDragon crew capsule’s propulsive landing system tested
SpaceX released a video Thursday showing a propulsive hover test of a prototype of the company's Dragon crew capsule conducted two months ago, a milestone in the development of the spaceship's rocket packs that will eventually guide the craft to helicopter-like landings.
NASA splits space station cargo deal three ways
An unpiloted space plane developed by Sierra Nevada Corp. will join cargo carriers built by SpaceX and Orbital ATK to resupply the International Space Station beginning in 2019, NASA announced Thursday.
Falcon 9’s near-term manifest coming into focus
SpaceX's launch of a cluster of communications satellites for Orbcomm, set for as soon as next weekend, holds the headlines, but the company's Falcon 9 rocket could fly at least four times in the next two months, assuming smooth launch campaigns and no glitches.
SpaceX receives firm order for its first crew flight
Fresh off a major design review, SpaceX's human-rated Dragon spaceship has received the first of up to six firm mission orders from NASA under the company's $2.6 billion commercial crew contract.