Reusability – Page 20 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX modifies Starlink network design as another 60 satellites gear up for launch

April 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Another 60 Starlink satellites are ready for launch Wednesday to beam Internet signals to future SpaceX consumers as the company seeks regulatory approval to deploy thousands more spacecraft at lower altitudes than originally planned.

SpaceX test-fires rocket for Starlink launch next week

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket with a previously-flown first stage booster Friday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, keeping pace for a launch scheduled next Thursday, April 23, with the next batch of 60 Starlink broadband Internet satellites.

Video: Falcon 9 fires up engines on pad 39A (members only)

April 17, 2020 Stephen Clark

Nine Merlin main engines on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket ignited at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) Friday, April 17, during a hold-down test-firing on launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Time-lapse: Falcon 9 goes upright at launch pad 39A (members only)

April 16, 2020 Spaceflight Now

Watch a time-lapse video of the Falcon 9 rocket going upright at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center as SpaceX prepares for the launch of the seventh batch of Starlink broadband Internet satellites.

Live coverage: SpaceX launch moved up to Wednesday

April 16, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has moved up its next launch to Wednesday, one day earlier than previously planned. A Falcon 9 rocket will take off with the next 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet network at 3:37 p.m. EDT (1937 GMT) Wednesday from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There’s a 90 percent chance of favorable weather for launch Wednesday.

Rocket Lab reports recovery test success

April 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Aiming for reusability, Rocket Lab has demonstrated the mid-air recovery of a booster test article in a key test before rigging the first stage of the company’s Electron launcher with a parachute on missions beginning later this year.

Photos: SpaceX cargo capsule returns to Southern California after space station mission

April 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX technicians offloaded a Dragon cargo capsule from its recovery ship Thursday after returning the thrice-flown supply freighter to the Port of Los Angeles, marking the final planned return of a Dragon spacecraft to the West Coast.

With successful splashdown, SpaceX retires first version of Dragon spacecraft

April 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Tuesday and splashed down hours later in Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles. Beginning later this year, SpaceX will fly upgraded Dragon freighters that will dock automatically with the space station and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida.

Video: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A (members only)

March 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

With nine engines firing, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Wednesday morning from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 60 Starlink satellites on-board.

Falcon 9 rocket overcomes engine failure to deploy Starlink satellites

March 18, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket overcame a rare in-flight engine failure soon after launch from Florida’s Space Coast Wednesday to place 60 satellites in orbit for the company’s Starlink Internet network. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, promised a “thorough investigation” of the engine failure before the next Falcon 9 launch.