SpaceX – Page 147 – Spaceflight Now

Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft

July 29, 2017 Stephen Clark

The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceX’s first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon variant is ready.

Musk aims for November debut of Falcon Heavy

July 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX aims to launch the first Falcon Heavy rocket in November, company chief Elon Musk said Thursday, the latest in a series of schedule targets for the heavy-lift launcher’s delayed debut.

Musk sets expectations low for maiden Falcon Heavy launch

July 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

When SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket finally takes off for the first time, a debut now scheduled this fall, there’s a good chance the commercial heavy-lifter will falter short of reaching orbit, company founder and chief designer Elon Musk said last week.

Propulsive landings nixed from SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship

July 19, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s upgraded Dragon capsules will not return astronauts to Earth for powered landings as originally envisioned, company boss Elon Musk said Wednesday, a design change that raises questions about the space transport firm’s plans to send commercial landers to the surface of Mars.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket makes evening ascent from pad 39A

July 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

Look back on last week’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, capping a busy two weeks for the launch company with a successful satellite deployment flight for Intelsat.

SpaceX delivers for Intelsat on heavyweight Falcon 9 mission

July 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rumbled into the sky Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, flexing the rocket’s muscles and lofting a massive Intelsat satellite to orbit supporting wireless communications, television broadcasting and trans-Atlantic data relays.

Video replay of the Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff with Intelsat 35e

July 6, 2017 Stephen Clark

Launching its 10th mission this year, SpaceX delivered an Intelsat communications satellite to a high-altitude transfer orbit Wednesday with a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Video: Press site view of the Falcon 9’s launch with Intelsat 35e

July 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

Watch a view of the Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff Wednesday from the Kennedy Space Center as seen from the press site around three miles from the launch pad.

Launch of Falcon 9 rocket scrubbed second day in a row

July 4, 2017 Stephen Clark

For the second day running, computers automatically aborted a Falcon 9 launch countdown Monday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the final seconds before liftoff with the Intelsat 35e communications satellite.

Dragon capsule returns home with animals and station equipment

July 3, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Dragon spaceship, carrying more than 4,100 pounds of cargo and research specimens, descended to a predawn splashdown Monday in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles, completing the first re-flight of one of SpaceX’s unpiloted supply ships to the International Space Station.