Falcon 9

SpaceX completes static fire test of its Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for the Polaris Dawn astronaut mission

August 25, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The ignition test of the nine Merlin engines at the base of the rocket came after the four crew members step through a dry dress rehearsal of their launch day activities. The T-0 for ignition happened at 6:38 a.m. EDT (1038 UTC).

Polaris Dawn astronauts, set to perform first commercial spacewalk, arrive in Florida ahead of launch

August 20, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The four astronauts, led by businessman Jared Isaacman, will fly onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Resilience. Liftoff is targeting no earlier than Monday, August 26.

SpaceX launches new Falcon 9 rocket on Starlink mission following ‘water intrusion’ issue

August 20, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission came a little more than 12 hours after SpaceX performed a static fire test of the rocket Monday night. Liftoff of the Starlink 10-5 mission happened at 9:20 a.m. EDT (1320 UTC).

SpaceX completes static fire of Falcon 9 rocket ahead of Starlink and Crew 9 missions

August 19, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The booster will first launch the Starlink 10-5 mission no earlier than the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 20. The static fire test happened Monday evening shortly after 7 p.m. EDT (2300 UTC).

SpaceX launches 116 payloads on Falcon 9 rideshare mission, Transporter-11

August 16, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

SpaceX’s rideshare program has launched more 1,000 smallsats for more than 130 customers. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 11:56 a.m. PDT (2:56 p.m. EDT, 1856 UTC).

SpaceX launches 2nd pair of Maxar’s WorldView Legion satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

August 14, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The mission marked the 200th Falcon 9 launch from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Liftoff happened at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 UTC).

SpaceX launched twin communications satellites for Space Norway

August 11, 2024 Will Robinson-Smith

The satellites were manufactured by Northrop Grumman and will provide both commercial broadband connectivity and military satellite communications in the northern polar region. Liftoff happened Sunday, Aug. 11, at 7:02 p.m. PDT (10:02 p.m. EDT 0202 UTC).