Just Read the Instructions – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX sets new rocket reuse records with successful Starlink launch

January 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites Wednesday into a sunny sky over Florida’s Space Coast, adding more capacity and coverage to the company’s commercial broadband network while setting new records for the pace it is reusing Falcon 9 rocket boosters.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites

January 20, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched another batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The broadband stations lifted off at 8:02 a.m. EST (1302 GMT) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

SpaceX rolls out Falcon 9 rocket for another Starlink mission

January 18, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX rolled out a Falcon 9 rocket Sunday night to pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for liftoff with the next 60 Starlink internet satellites, but officials have pushed back the launch until Wednesday.

Crew-rated SpaceX booster returns to Cape Canaveral with a lean

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

The Falcon 9 booster that launched four astronauts toward orbit last weekend arrived back on Florida’s Space Coast Thursday aboard a SpaceX drone ship, sailing into Port Canaveral with a lean but otherwise in seemingly good shape after it apparently slid across the ship’s deck in high winds and rough seas. Assuming post-flight inspections reveal no major issues, SpaceX aims to reuse the booster to launch the next Crew Dragon mission in 2021.

SpaceX aborts liftoff of GPS satellite, continuing streak of launch scrubs

October 3, 2020 Stephen Clark

For the fourth time this week, a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral was stopped with seconds remaining in the countdown Friday night, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket automatically aborted its liftoff with a new GPS navigation satellite during the engine startup sequence.

Falcon 9 launch timeline with the GPS 3 SV04 navigation satellite

October 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 5 carrying the U.S. Air Force’s next GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth.

Live coverage: SpaceX aborts launch of GPS satellite

October 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

The U.S. military’s next GPS navigation satellite was ready for launch from Cape Canaveral at 9:43 p.m. EDT Friday (0143 GMT Saturday) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. But SpaceX aborted the countdown just two seconds prior to liftoff.

U.S. military to use previously-flown SpaceX rockets beginning next year

October 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Space Force says it will launch two GPS navigation satellites on reused Falcon 9 boosters next year through a restructured contract with SpaceX that saved taxpayers $52 million, the first time the military has agreed to fly operational national security payloads on previously-flown rockets.

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.