Falcon 9 – Page 106 – Spaceflight Now

Test satellites for SpaceX’s broadband ‘megaconstellation’ set for launch

February 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is set to launch two prototype probes Wednesday to begin testing spacecraft and antenna technology the company hopes will eventually power a network of thousands of satellites blanketing planet Earth with broadband Internet coverage.

Falcon 9 launch timeline with Paz

February 20, 2018 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the Paz Earth observation payload for Hisdesat, operator of Spain’s governmental satellites.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with three satellites

February 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

Running several days late after a series of technical and weather delays, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:17 a.m. PST (9:17 a.m. EST; 1417 GMT) with the Spanish-owned Paz radar observation satellite and two prototype payloads for SpaceX’s planned Starlink broadband satellite network.

New drone ship under construction for SpaceX rocket landings

February 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX will deploy a new rocket landing platform off Florida’s Space Coast to enter a rotation with another drone ship stationed at Cape Canaveral, company founder Elon Musk said Monday.

NASA gears up for brisk launch pace, starting with weather satellite

February 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center tasked with overseeing launches of scientific satellites and interplanetary probes will be responsible later this year for ensuring six major missions safely get into space over a span of a little more than six months, beginning with the launch of NOAA’s new GOES-S weather observatory on an Atlas 5 rocket March 1.

Photos: Falcon 9 soars into space with GovSat 1

February 4, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s second Falcon 9 flight of the year lifted off Jan. 31 from Cape Canaveral with GovSat 1, a U.S.-built satellite funded by SES and the government of Luxembourg to provide secure communications for military and civil defense authorities.

SpaceX rocket flies on 60th anniversary of first U.S. satellite launch

January 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher boosted a 4.7-ton military-grade communications satellite for SES and the Luxembourg government toward a perch 22,300 miles over the equator following a spectacular late afternoon liftoff Tuesday from Florida’s Space Coast, clearing the last mission off the launch company’s manifest before the long-awaited debut of the massive Falcon Heavy rocket.

Video: Replay of the launch of GovSat 1 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket

January 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

The GovSat 1 communications satellite for SES and the government of Luxembourg lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) Wednesday.

Falcon 9 launches with GovSat 1 as seen from Kennedy Space Center (members only)

January 31, 2018 Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched at 4:25 p.m. EST (2125 GMT) on 31 January from Cape Canaveral with the GovSat 1 communications satellite.

SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch to replace second stage sensor

January 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s launch director halted a countdown Tuesday to replace a sensor on the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket set to blast off with the GovSat 1 communications craft, the product of a joint venture between the commercial satellite operator SES and the government of Luxembourg.