Mr. Steven – Spaceflight Now

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

July 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

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.

Video: Falcon 9 lifts off in a veil of fog

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A thick marine layer blanketing Vandenberg Air Force Base in California restricted views of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifting off early Wednesday, but cameras fixed to the launcher provided spectacular imagery of the predawn departure with 10 Iridium satellites on-board.

SpaceX’s second launch in three days lofts 10 more Iridium satellites

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

Firing through a veil of fog blanketing California’s Central Coast, a Falcon 9 launcher climbed into orbit Wednesday with 10 more satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay constellation, pushing the upgraded network closer to completion as SpaceX accomplished another landing of the rocket’s first stage booster.

Launch timeline for Iridium’s seventh launch with SpaceX

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with the another set of 10 next-generation satellites for Iridium’s voice and data relay fleet.

Photos: Falcon 9 ready for launch from California

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket loaded with 10 Iridium Next communications satellite is awaiting a predawn launch Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from California

July 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:39 a.m. PDT (7:39 a.m. EDT; 1139 GMT) Wednesday, and SpaceX successfully landed the rocket’s first stage on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean. The mission’s primary objective is the deployment of 10 Iridium Next communications satellites into low Earth orbit.

SpaceX’s fairing-catching boat heads to sea, this time with a bigger net

July 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

After several near-misses in tries to catch payload shrouds jettisoned from Falcon 9 rockets climbing into space, a high-speed boat tasked with retrieving the fairings for SpaceX to reuse has been upgraded and dispatched into the Pacific Ocean ahead of a launch Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force in California.

New photos illustrate progress in SpaceX’s fairing recovery attempts

June 1, 2018 Stephen Clark

Photos released by SpaceX this week show how close the company’s payload fairing retrieval ship got to catching two halves of a nose shroud jettisoned from a Falcon 9 rocket that launched May 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket fires into orbit with Paz, Starlink satellites

February 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Feb. 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with the Spanish Paz radar observation satellite and two prototypes for a planned broadband Internet network.

Recycled SpaceX rocket boosts Paz radar satellite, first Starlink testbeds into orbit

February 22, 2018 Stephen Clark

Launching with a Spanish radar observation craft and the first two experimental satellites for SpaceX’s planned global broadband network, a Falcon 9 rocket fired away from California’s Central Coast shortly before sunrise Thursday after several days of delays.