Commercial Space – Page 81

Launch timeline for Falcon Heavy’s second flight

April 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket is set for liftoff Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the heavy-lift launcher will head on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

Photos: Falcon Heavy raised vertical at pad 39A

April 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy, outfitted to produce more thrust than the heavy-lifter’s debut flight last year, was raised vertical at launch pad 39A in Florida on Wednesday ahead of a launch attempt with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy launches, three boosters land safely

April 10, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off Thursday with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite. The world’s most powerful operational launcher lifted off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT), and its three first stage boosters landed less than 10 minutes later — two back at Cape Canaveral and one on a drone ship at sea.

Watch the Falcon Heavy fire up its engines

April 5, 2019 Spaceflight Now

The second Falcon Heavy fires its first stage engines as part of a routine pre-flight test for the upcoming launch of the Arabsat 6A communications satellite.

Israel’s Beresheet lander brakes into lunar orbit

April 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Six weeks after launching from Cape Canaveral, an Israeli-built probe funded through private donations arrived in orbit around the moon Thursday, setting the the stage for the mission’s final descent to the lunar surface April 11.

Israel’s Beresheet lander heads for make-or-break lunar capture maneuver

April 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Israeli spacecraft has one shot Thursday to swing into orbit around the moon with a six-minute engine firing, a critical maneuver that will set up for the privately-funded probe’s historic landing attempt April 11.

Boeing delays first Starliner test flight to August, NASA extends duration of first crew mission

April 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Boeing said Tuesday the first orbital test flight of its commercial crew capsule, named the Starliner, will be delayed until August “in order to avoid unnecessary schedule pressure” and give priority on the Atlas 5 rocket’s manifest to a U.S. Air Force communications satellite. NASA confirmed Wednesday that officials have approved an extension of the Starliner’s first crewed mission to last up to several months.

Two Soyuz rockets rolled out for launches on different continents

April 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Russian ground crews working in starkly different environments on the barren steppes of Kazakhstan and in the lush jungles of South America are readying a pair of Soyuz rockets for two launches Thursday, one to resupply the International Space Station, and another to broaden the capacity of SES’s O3b Internet network.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy launch slips until Wednesday at earliest

April 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

The launch for the second Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has slipped until Wednesday at the earliest. The powerful rocket is due to carry the Arabsat 6A communications satellite into orbit.

Indian military satellite, 20 more Planet imaging CubeSats launched by PSLV

April 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

An Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle blasted off and successfully deployed a military electronic surveillance satellite and 28 nanosatellites for companies in the United States, Lithuania, Spain and Switzerland at two different altitudes Monday, before the rocket’s upper stage began an extended mission as a solar-powered experiment platform in low Earth orbit.