Launch Pad 39A – Page 40 – Spaceflight Now

Bulgaria’s first communications satellite heaved into orbit

June 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Launching into a sun-splashed summertime afternoon sky, a previously-flown SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into orbit from Florida’s east coast Friday with a U.S.-built, Bulgarian-owned television broadcasting satellite.

Video: Press site view of Friday’s Falcon 9 launch

June 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket taking off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center with the BulgariaSat 1 communications satellite, as viewed from the press viewing site around three miles away.

Falcon 9 launch timeline with BulgariaSat 1

June 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, heading due east over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver the BulgariaSat 1 communications satellite into orbit 35 minutes later.

Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Florida, lands on ship

June 23, 2017 Stephen Clark

One of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket boosters made its second trip into space Friday, lofting a Bulgarian television broadcasting satellite from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, then landing on a platform in the Atlantic Ocean. Liftoff occurred at 3:10 p.m. EDT (1910 GMT).

Head of BulgariaSat says satellite project would be impossible without SpaceX

June 22, 2017 Stephen Clark

On the eve of the launch of his country’s first communications satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket, the chief executive of BulgariaSat credited SpaceX’s cost-cutting ways with making space accessible for small nations and money-conscious companies like his own.

Falcon 9 launch delay sets up potential SpaceX ‘doubleheader’ next weekend

June 18, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has pushed back the liftoff of a Bulgarian television broadcast satellite on the company’s second previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket until at least Friday, giving ground crews time to replace a valve on the launcher inside a hangar at its Florida launch pad.

Falcon 9 launch scheduled for Monday after hold-down engine firing

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

The launch of a commercial Bulgarian television broadcast satellite from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida is set for Monday after SpaceX ran through a mock countdown Thursday and test-fired a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket’s Merlin main engines.

Video: SpaceX’s second reused Falcon 9 rocket test-fired in Florida

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket ignited its nine Merlin main engines for several seconds Thursday at launch pad 39A in Florida, moving the previously-flown booster closer to a scheduled blastoff Monday with a Bulgarian communications satellite.

Live coverage: Previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket fires engines on Florida launch pad

June 15, 2017 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 rocket launch, using a previously-flown first stage booster, took a step closer to liftoff Thursday with a countdown rehearsal culminating in ignition of the launcher’s nine Merlin main engines in a hold-down firing at pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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.