Kennedy Space Center – Spaceflight Now

Watch SpaceX Dragon launch pad escape system testing

August 9, 2019

A slide wire escape system has been undergoing tests at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in readiness for the first SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to carry astronauts to the International Space Station.

SpaceX to begin flights under new cargo resupply contract next year

August 2, 2019

SpaceX is set to retire its current fleet of Dragon capsules, in use since 2010, next year and begin flying supplies to the International Space Station on a new variant of the Dragon spacecraft based on the model in development to carry astronauts.

Mars 2020 rover on track for launch next July

July 31, 2019

The launch of NASA’s Mars 2020 rover is less than a year away, and the steady pace of work inside the craft’s pristine assembly hall in California is keeping the mission on schedule for liftoff from Cape Canaveral next July, despite growing costs, according to mission managers.

Video: SpaceX CRS-18 pre-launch press conference

July 24, 2019

NASA and SpaceX officials briefed the media Wednesday on the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule on a resupply flight to the International Space Station.

First moon-bound Orion crew capsule declared complete, major tests remain

July 22, 2019

Teams working at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week connected a U.S.-built Orion crew module with its European-made power and propulsion element for the first time, a significant accomplishment ahead of the spacecraft’s shipment to Ohio this fall for testing inside the world’s largest vacuum chamber.

Pence delivers a promise, and a warning, to NASA and its contractors

July 22, 2019

Despite appearances and a presidential tweet suggesting otherwise, the United States is “100%” committed to sending astronauts back to the moon in 2024 and establishing a long-term, sustainable presence there as a stepping stone to eventual piloted flights to Mars, Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview with CBS News.

Final assembly and test milestones on tap for NASA’s first Orion moon ship

July 15, 2019

The pressurized crew module and European-built service module for NASA’s first Orion spacecraft to travel to the moon will be joined together for the first time in the coming weeks at the Kennedy Space Center, with preparations — at least for Orion — on a pace to be ready for launch on an unpiloted test flight next year.

Commercial satellite images historic Apollo launch pads

July 9, 2019

Maxar’s eagle-eyed WorldView 3 satellite captured high-resolution views Monday of NASA’s twin Apollo-era launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, both now home to new launch vehicles 50 years after humans took their first steps on the moon.

SpaceX wins NASA contract to launch X-ray telescope on reused rocket

July 8, 2019

NASA has selected a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — flying with a reused first stage booster — to launch the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer mission from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in April 2021, bypassing Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus rocket for the task.

Newly-released videos show SpaceX payload fairing coming back to Earth

July 3, 2019

New videos released Wednesday by SpaceX show the payload fairing from the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket plunging back into the atmosphere after launch June 25, trailing a wake of haunting blue super-heated plasma before unfurling a parafoil and landing in the net of an offshore recovery ship.