Falcon 9 – Page 66 – Spaceflight Now

Dragon astronauts wrap up training, prepare to enter quarantine

May 8, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley completed their final training sessions in Houston this week before their scheduled May 27 liftoff on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center, the first launch of humans from the Florida spaceport since 2011.

SpaceX aces last Dragon parachute test before crew launch

May 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX completed Friday the last drop test of the Dragon crew capsule’s parachutes before the first launch of astronauts on the human-rated ship May 27, while technicians at Cape Canaveral have mated the spacecraft’s crew module with its unpressurized trunk section.

Citing coronavirus, NASA urges public not to travel for launch of astronauts

April 24, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine on Thursday urged space enthusiasts not to travel to the Kennedy Space Center next month to view the first launch of astronauts from the Florida spaceport since 2011, and asked people to instead watch the launch on television or online.

SpaceX’s Starlink network surpasses 400-satellite mark after successful launch

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 60 more spacecraft Wednesday to join the Starlink fleet beaming broadband signals around the world, while the company’s engineers move closer to debuting a sunshade that could reduce the satellites’ impacts on ground-based astronomy.

Timeline for Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

April 22, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink Internet satellites Wednesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Liftoff from pad 39A occurred at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s previously-flown first stage successfully landed on SpaceX’s offshore drone ship.

SpaceX modifies Starlink network design as another 60 satellites gear up for launch

April 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Another 60 Starlink satellites are ready for launch Wednesday to beam Internet signals to future SpaceX consumers as the company seeks regulatory approval to deploy thousands more spacecraft at lower altitudes than originally planned.

SpaceX test-fires rocket for Starlink launch next week

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, keeping pace for a launch scheduled next Thursday, April 23, with the next batch of 60 Starlink broadband Internet satellites.

Video: Falcon 9 fires up engines on pad 39A (members only)

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Nine Merlin main engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Friday, April 17, during a hold-down test-firing on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA, SpaceX set May 27 as target date for first crew launch

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Nearly a decade in the making, NASA and SpaceX have set May 27 as the target launch date for the first crewed space mission to launch into orbit from U.S. soil since the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.