Falcon 9 – Page 50 – Spaceflight Now

First operational Crew Dragon launch slips to Halloween

September 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Monday that the launch of the first operational crew rotation mission to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft is set for the predawn hours of Halloween, eight days later than previously planned.

NASA selects SpaceX to launch mission studying interstellar space

September 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has awarded SpaceX a $109 million contract to launch the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe, a NOAA space weather observatory, a robotic scout to map water on the moon, and two other ridealong payloads on a single Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in 2024.

After weather scrub, Starlink launch to wait for pair of national security missions

September 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

Continuing a dizzying series of rescheduled launches from Florida’s Space Coast, poor weather at the Kennedy Space Center forced SpaceX to keep a Falcon 9 rocket and 60 Starlink broadband satellites on the ground Monday. The Starlink launch is expected to be delayed until Thursday, after a pair of national security missions are set to blast off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday.

Live coverage: SpaceX scrubs Falcon 9 launch due to weather

September 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

After an 11-day delay, SpaceX planned to deploy 60 more Starlink broadband satellites with a Falcon 9 rocket launch scheduled for 10:22 a.m. EDT (1422 GMT) Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But SpaceX scrubbed the launch less than a minute before liftoff due to bad weather.

Delta 4-Heavy launch delayed by ground system issue

September 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s next launch attempt for its Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral with a top secret U.S. government spy satellite will be delayed to no earlier than early Tuesday.

Axiom finalizing agreements for private astronaut mission to space station

September 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

The chief executive of Axiom Space says agreements with NASA, SpaceX, and fare-paying passengers should be finalized in the coming weeks for the launch of the first all-private crew to the International Space Station in October 2021, and former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria is set to command the mission.

Next SpaceX launch will wait for improved ocean conditions

September 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

The launch of SpaceX’s next 60 Starlink satellites will wait for better weather and sea conditions after currents were too strong for the company’s rocket landing platform to hold position in the Atlantic Ocean for a launch attempt Thursday.

Live coverage: SpaceX grounds launch to wait for better recovery weather

September 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX scrubbed a Falcon 9 launch attempt Thursday, citing an issue associated with the planned recovery of the rocket’s first stage or payload fairing in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials later said the mission would be grounded to await improved weather in downrange recovery area in the Atlantic Ocean.

Up and down with a Falcon 9 booster

September 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has released video from an Aug. 30 launch captured by a camera mounted aboard the first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket, showing the booster’s climb into space from Cape Canaveral and a fiery return to the Florida spaceport, where SpaceX will ready the vehicle for another mission.

SpaceX plans Falcon 9 launch Thursday from Kennedy Space Center

September 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

Forecasters predict a 60 percent chance of favorable weather for launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to carry more Starlink broadband satellites into orbit.