Falcon Heavy – Page 13 – Spaceflight Now

Debut of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket now planned early next year

November 28, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket is expected to roll out to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first time next month for a hold-down firing of its 27 Merlin main engines, but the mega-rocket’s inaugural test launch will slip into January, officials confirmed Tuesday.

Space station cargo flight next on SpaceX’s launch schedule

November 27, 2017 Stephen Clark

In a reshuffling of SpaceX’s launch schedule, a Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff no earlier than Dec. 8 on a mission to deliver several tons of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station and return to service a Cape Canaveral launch pad damaged in a catastrophic rocket explosion last year.

SpaceX to restore damaged Cape Canaveral launch pad to service in December

November 1, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is set to resume launches from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral in December with the liftoff of a space station-bound supply ship on top of a Falcon 9 booster, a major step in boosting the company’s flight rate and readying for the debut of the long-delayed Falcon Heavy rocket.

Regulatory filings suggest SpaceX plans November launch with mystery payload

October 14, 2017 Stephen Clark

Information found in federal regulatory filings suggests SpaceX plans to conduct a Falcon 9 rocket launch as soon as mid-November with an unidentified payload that has so far escaped public disclosure.

Launch operators expect minimal delays from Hurricane Irma

September 13, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX and United Launch Alliance expect to resume launches with little or no delay after Hurricane Irma veered west of Cape Canaveral last weekend, sparing the launch base from the storm’s most extreme damage.

Shuttle-era structure dismantled piece-by-piece at pad 39A

August 5, 2017 Stephen Clark

A heavy-duty crane towering over launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in recent weeks has removed several large sections of a disused structure once needed to install satellites and space station modules into space shuttle cargo bays.

Musk sets expectations low for maiden Falcon Heavy launch

July 25, 2017 Stephen Clark

When SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket finally takes off for the first time, a debut now scheduled this fall, there’s a good chance the commercial heavy-lifter will falter short of reaching orbit, company founder and chief designer Elon Musk said last week.

SpaceX aims to restore damaged launch pad to service by end of summer

June 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

Construction crews at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad are busily repairing and upgrading the facility after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded there last year, with the pad’s return to service scheduled before the end of the summer, clearing the way for final preparations for the triple-core Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight late this year.

First core of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket fired in Texas

May 10, 2017 Stephen Clark

The center section of SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket has been test-fired at the launch company’s test facility in Central Texas, a sign of progress toward the behemoth booster’s long-delayed maiden mission scheduled some time in the final months of 2017.

Musk wants to make Falcon rockets fully reusable

April 11, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX chief Elon Musk said last week he is “fairly confident” his company’s Falcon rockets can be made fully reusable within a couple of years, suggesting a renewed emphasis on outfitting upper stages for a scorching re-entry after engineers shelved the idea to focus on landing the launcher’s bigger booster stage.