Falcon 9 – Page 79 – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket test-fired at Kennedy Space Center

November 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket Monday evening on pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, setting the stage for a launch later this week carrying the Japanese-built, Qatari-owned Es’hail 2 communications satellite to orbit.

Safety panel says much work left to do before commercial crew ships fly

October 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA safety advisors on Thursday lauded hardware milestones on Boeing and SpaceX commercial crew capsules, but said multiple technical issues, including problems with parachutes, must be resolved before the human-rated ships are ready to carry astronauts, adding that both companies continue to pursue schedules that appear to be unachievable.

SpaceX aces first rocket landing in California after launching Argentine satellite

October 8, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket launching an Argentine Earth-observing satellite streaked across the skies of Southern California on Sunday night, then its booster stage returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base for an on-target landing, the first by SpaceX on the West Coast.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket, landing pad ready for action at Vandenberg

October 7, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday ahead of a planned liftoff with Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite, and the first landing of a SpaceX booster on the U.S. West Coast.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Argentine satellite, lands rocket in California

October 7, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday at 7:21 p.m. PDT (10:21 p.m. EDT; 0221 GMT Monday) with SAOCOM 1A, a radar observation satellite for Argentina, then returned the booster to a landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for the first time.

No commercial crew test flights expected this year

October 6, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA has released new target dates for test flights of commercial crew capsules in development by SpaceX and Boeing, with unpiloted demo missions by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spaceships now scheduled for January and March, followed by crewed orbital missions in mid-2019.

SpaceX completes hotfire test, preps for first California rocket landing

October 2, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket powered by a recycled first stage lit its main engines for a hold-down firing on a launch pad Tuesday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch with an Argentine radar satellite on a mission that will feature the first SpaceX booster landing on the West Coast.

Another recovered Falcon 9 booster arrives back in port

September 12, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX brought another Falcon 9 booster into Port Canaveral on Wednesday, a little more than two days after landing the rocket on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean as the company enters an unusually quiescent period of launch activity in Florida — at least by recent standards.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket blasts off with Telstar 18 VANTAGE comsat

September 11, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched its 16th mission of the year early Monday, lighting up a nighttime sky with a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver a Canadian-owned commercial communications satellite to orbit.

SpaceX, Telesat achieve repeat success with midnight-hour launch

September 10, 2018 Stephen Clark

For the second time in seven weeks, SpaceX, Telesat and SSL teamed up for a commercial satellite launch from Cape Canaveral early Monday, this time successfully deploying into orbit a high-power telecom payload developed in a joint venture with a Hong Kong-based company.