ABS 3A

Innovative satellites begin maneuvers with all-electric thrusters

March 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two ion-driven communications satellites launched from Cape Canaveral on March 1 have begun novel maneuvers using electric propulsion to reach operating posts 22,300 miles over the equator.

Photos: Last look at Sunday’s launch by SpaceX

March 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Sunday’s liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket marked the 16th flight of SpaceX’s workhorse launcher, and its third mission of the year. Here is another set of launch photos from SpaceX.

Reader-submitted shots of Falcon 9 launch

March 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now readers sent in photos of Sunday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, which lit up a late-night moonlit sky over Florida’s Space Coast on the way to orbit with two communications satellites.

Photos: Falcon takes flight

March 2, 2015 Justin Ray

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off Sunday with a dual-satellite payload destined for geosynchronous orbits 22,300 miles above the Earth.

Plasma-driven satellites launched from Cape Canaveral

March 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two communications satellites blasted off Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off more than a half-year of novel maneuvers in orbit using plasma drive engines to position the spacecraft 22,300 miles above Earth and link the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Photos: Falcon 9 stands ready to launch dual-satellite stack

March 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s 22-story Falcon 9 rocket stands on Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Sunday, hours before the scheduled liftoff of a pair of commercial communications satellites for Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite.

Boeing’s first two all-electric satellites ready for launch

March 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

A new class of Boeing-built spacecraft will fly into orbit for the first time Sunday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, combining Boeing’s electric propulsion technology with SpaceX’s bargain launch prices to send up communications satellites at a fraction of the typical cost.