Reusability – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX test-fires reused rocket in preparation for space station cargo mission

June 23, 2018

A rocket booster SpaceX used to launch a planet-hunting NASA observatory two months ago fired again Saturday at Cape Canaveral, clearing a major pre-flight checkout before blastoff June 29 with a space station supply ship.

SpaceX plans new facilities at KSC to support more launches, landings

June 11, 2018

An airport-like viewing tower standing up to 30 stories tall is the centerpiece of SpaceX’s planned rocket refurbishment and operations base proposed for vacant land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

New photos illustrate progress in SpaceX’s fairing recovery attempts

June 1, 2018

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: Blues skies make for spectacular Falcon 9 launch in California

May 24, 2018

A threatening layer of clouds stayed away from SpaceX’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, allowing for clear viewing of a spectacular Falcon 9 launch carrying commercial and scientific satellites into polar orbit.

Rideshare launch by SpaceX serves commercial and scientific customers

May 22, 2018

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket powered by a reused first stage climbed into orbit Tuesday from California’s Central Coast, carrying five satellites to upgrade Iridium’s global messaging service and two research craft to study Earth’s water cycle.

Video: Falcon 9 lifts off with Iridium and GRACE-Follow On satellites

May 22, 2018

SpaceX’s tenth launch of the year took off Tuesday from California’s Central Coast on a unique ridehsare mission to add satellites to Iridium’s communications network and replace two Earth science satellites which ended their observations last year.

Live coverage: Iridium satellites, climate research craft lift off from California

May 22, 2018

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Tuesday with five communications satellites for Iridium’s commercial voice, data relay, and tracking network, and a pair of U.S.-German research craft to probe Earth’s climate and water cycle. Launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, occurred at 12:47 p.m. PDT (3:47 p.m. EDT; 1947 GMT).

Launch timeline for Falcon 9 mission with Iridium and GRACE-Follow On

May 22, 2018

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit with five more Iridium Next communications satellite and the U.S.-German GRACE-Follow On climate research mission.

Replacements for GRACE gravity and climate satellites ready for launch

May 22, 2018

A pair of European-built, NASA-backed research satellites set for launch Tuesday from California will extend 15 years of global gravity field measurements collected by the GRACE mission before it ended last year, supplying scientists with data to help track the melting of Earth’s ice sheets and chart the impacts of floods and droughts.

Photos: Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at Vandenberg

May 22, 2018

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rolled out to its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on Monday, one day before its scheduled liftoff carrying seven satellites into orbit on commercial communications and climate research missions.