Reusability – Spaceflight Now

Falcon Heavy core booster tips over in rough seas after drone ship landing

April 15, 2019

The core booster from the Falcon Heavy rocket that launched Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida tipped over in rough seas after landing on an offshore drone ship, SpaceX officials said Monday.

Photos: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy aces second mission

April 15, 2019

Photos captured by remote cameras placed at launch pad 39A show SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket soaring skyward Thursday evening atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

SpaceX retrieves Falcon Heavy fairings from sea for reuse on future launch

April 12, 2019

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said Thursday that the company’s recovery fleet in the Atlantic Ocean recovered the two halves of the Falcon Heavy’s payload shroud after the heavy-lifter’s second launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Musk said the company plans to reuse the fairing for the first time later this year.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy successful in commercial debut

April 11, 2019

On its second flight, SpaceX’s mammoth Falcon Heavy rocket hurled an Arabsat communications satellite the size of a school bus nearly one-quarter the way to the moon Thursday, days after NASA’s administrator identified the privately-developed rocket as a backup to the agency’s behind-schedule Space Launch System for sending astronauts back to the lunar surface.

Photos: SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy fires into a clear evening sky

April 11, 2019

Soaring into a clear early evening sky, SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from a seaside launch complex Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida before a crowd of thousands of space enthusiasts.

Watch the Falcon Heavy go upright at launch pad 39A

April 11, 2019

The Falcon Heavy is lifted upright at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on April 10, 2019, in this time-lapse video.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy ready for first commercial launch

April 10, 2019

A little more than a year after the Falcon Heavy rocket’s first test flight, SpaceX teams on Florida’s Space Coast are readying the world’s most powerful operational launcher for its second mission Thursday with a commercial communications satellite.

Launch timeline for Falcon Heavy’s second flight

April 10, 2019

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket is set for liftoff Thursday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the heavy-lift launcher will head on an easterly course over the Atlantic Ocean atop more than 5 million pounds of thrust.

Photos: Falcon Heavy raised vertical at pad 39A

April 10, 2019

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy, outfitted to produce more thrust than the heavy-lifter’s debut flight last year, was raised vertical at launch pad 39A in Florida on Wednesday ahead of a launch attempt with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite.

Live coverage: Falcon Heavy launches, three boosters land safely

April 10, 2019

SpaceX’s second Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off Thursday with the Arabsat 6A communications satellite. The world’s most powerful operational launcher lifted off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:35 p.m. EDT (2235 GMT), and its three first stage boosters landed less than 10 minutes later — two back at Cape Canaveral and one on a drone ship at sea.