Launch Pad 39A – Page 4 – Spaceflight Now

Astrobotic selects SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch robotic lunar lander

April 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

A commercial lunar lander built by Astrobotic will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2023 to deliver a water-hunting NASA rover to the moon’s south pole, officials announced Tuesday.

Final two passengers named for first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth

March 30, 2021 William Harwood

The billionaire financing the SpaceX flight that will carry the first non-professional “everyday people” into orbit in September, announced the final two members of his four-person crew Tuesday, adding an artist-educator and an aerospace worker selected in a charity-themed competition.

SpaceX extends its own rocket reuse record on Starlink launch

March 14, 2021 Stephen Clark

Using a Falcon 9 booster flying for a record ninth time, SpaceX’s swift sequence of launches continued Sunday with a predawn liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center carrying another set of 60 Starlink internet satellites, the company’s third mission in 10 days.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket launches with SpaceX’s next 60 Starlink satellites

March 14, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched of a Falcon 9 rocket at 6:01 a.m. EDT (1001 GMT) Sunday with the company’s next 60 Starlink internet satellites. The Falcon 9’s reusable first stage, making its ninth flight to space, successfully landed on a drone ship positioned offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX rocket rolls out to pad 39A for next Starlink mission

March 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

For the third time in 10 days, SpaceX is readying a Falcon 9 rocket for launch Sunday from Florida’s Space Coast with another 60 Starlink internet satellites. This time, SpaceX aims to extend the record for reusing a Falcon 9 booster to nine flights.

Next Crew Dragon launch set for April 22

March 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX have set April 22 as the target launch date for the next Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station. The four-person crew will be the first to ride a previously-flown Falcon 9 booster and a reused Dragon spacecraft, and a NASA official said this week that the launcher and capsule are in “really good shape” as refurbishment wraps up at Cape Canaveral.

SpaceX sticks 75th Falcon rocket landing after launching 60 more Starlink satellites

March 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

Launching through a blanket of low-hanging clouds and light mist, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast early Thursday and delivered 60 more Starlink internet satellites to orbit. The rocket’s first stage touched down on SpaceX’s floating landing platform in the Atlantic Ocean to complete its eighth trip to space and back.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

March 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

After a terminal countdown abort Sunday night, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the next 60 Starlink internet satellites Thursday at 3:24 a.m. EST (0824 GMT). The Falcon 9 took off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, and its first stage booster successfully landed on SpaceX’s offshore drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Launch companies, range teams reassessing Cape Canaveral weather rules

March 3, 2021 Stephen Clark

Launch companies and U.S. Space Force range officials at Cape Canaveral are reassessing long-standing weather rules, looking at beefing up rocket defenses against lightning, and considering strategies to prepare for two different launch windows on a given day to guard against weather delays, something SpaceX may demonstrate with a Falcon 9 launch early Thursday.

Live coverage: SpaceX delays Falcon 9 launch to Thursday morning

February 28, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX will not be making a Falcon 9 launch attempt Tuesday night. The next opportunities to launch the Falcon 9 with 60 Starlink satellites from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center will come at 3:24 a.m. EST (0824 GMT) or 5:42 a.m. EST (0942 GMT) Thursday. This change in launch time suggests SpaceX will target a different orbital plane within the Starlink constellation.