Launch Pad 39A – Page 12 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX gearing up for another launch of Starlink broadband satellites this week

June 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

For the third time in three weeks, SpaceX is preparing to launch a batch of satellites for the company’s Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast. Liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket is set for Thursday afternoon from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, weather permitting.

NASA agrees to fly astronauts on reused Crew Dragon spacecraft

June 23, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has agreed to allow its astronauts to fly on reused Crew Dragon spaceships and Falcon 9 boosters beginning as soon as SpaceX’s third launch of a crew to the International Space Station, a mission expected to launch next year.

Astronauts say riding Falcon 9 rocket was “totally different” from the space shuttle

June 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken say SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was a “very pure flying machine” as it sped their Crew Dragon spaceship into orbit, but they said they were surprised by the rougher-than-expected ride on the Falcon 9’s powerful upper stage.

Photos: SpaceX’s first crewed mission launches from pad 39A

June 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

This collection of images from NASA and SpaceX photographers shows the Crew Dragon spacecraft lifting off on top of a Falcon 9 rocket May 30.

South Korean satellite shipped to Cape Canaveral for Falcon 9 launch next month

June 9, 2020 Stephen Clark

A communications satellite built for the South Korean military arrived at Cape Canaveral this week from an Airbus factory in France to begin final preparations for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in July.

SpaceX’s reusable Falcon booster returns to port after crew launch

June 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

Almost exactly three days after taking off a few miles to the north at the Kennedy Space Center on SpaceX’s historic first crew launch, a 15-story-tall Falcon rocket booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast Tuesday aboard a football field-sized drone ship.

Photos: Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon blast off from pad 39A

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft took off Saturday from historic launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first piloted orbital space mission from a U.S. spaceport in nearly a decade.

Making history, astronauts ride commercial capsule to space station

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Crew Dragon spaceship built and owned by SpaceX glided to an automated docking with the International Space Station Sunday, delivering NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the orbiting research complex after a trouble-free 19-hour flight from the Kennedy Space Center.

Watch the astronauts give a tour of their new Crew Dragon spacecraft

May 31, 2020 Spaceflight Now

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken give a video tour of their new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as they close in on a docking with the International Space Station on May 31, 2020.

Dragon crew names their spacecraft Endeavour; complete first manual flight test

May 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

Hours after arriving in orbit, Dragon astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken completed their first manual flight test using touchscreen controls on the SpaceX’s new crew capsule, and revealed “Endeavour” as the name of their ship.