SpaceX teams at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California are preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Monday, powered by a reused first stage booster flying on its third mission, a first for the company as engineers continue chasing a long-term goal of re-flying the same rocket on back-to-back days.
SpaceX is targeting Jan. 7 for launch of its first Crew Dragon commercial ferry ship on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station, NASA announced Wednesday, a major milestone in the agency’s drive to end its sole reliance on Russian Soyuz crew ships for carrying astronauts to orbit.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket darted into a partly cloudy sky over Florida’s Space Coast with a roar Thursday afternoon, carrying the Japanese-built Es’hail 2 communications satellite into space to beam commercial video and data services across the Middle East and expand connectivity for Qatar’s military.
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