SpaceX – Page 189 – Spaceflight Now

100th Merlin 1D engine flies on Falcon 9 rocket

February 22, 2015 Stephen Clark

Depending on how you count it, SpaceX launched its 100th kerosene-fueled Merlin 1D rocket engine on a Falcon 9 rocket Feb. 11, underscoring what it says is an accelerated flight regime for the centerpiece of the company’s propulsion shop.

SES signs up for launch with more powerful Falcon 9 engines

February 20, 2015 Stephen Clark

A communications payload owned by the Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES will ride the first launch of an upgraded Falcon 9 rocket in mid-2015, SES officials said Friday.

SpaceX leases property for landing pads at Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg

February 17, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX plans to set up landing pads on abandoned launch sites at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base in a step toward the company’s vision for eventual recovery and reuse of rocket boosters.

Arianespace edges out SpaceX to launch Korean satellites

February 16, 2015 Stephen Clark

Two South Korean Earth-watching satellites will ride Ariane 5 rockets into orbit in 2018 and 2019 after Arianespace beat SpaceX in a competition to launch the spacecraft.

Photos: Falcon 9 soars into space at sunset

February 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral on its 15th flight just before sunset Wednesday, putting on a spectacular sky show en route to space with a NOAA satellite to measure the solar wind.

Space weather observatory blasts off after 17-year wait

February 12, 2015 Stephen Clark

An interplanetary space weather station rocketed away from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday, speeding toward a remote operating post a million miles from Earth to help forecasters warn of intense solar storms.

SpaceX to forgo booster recovery on Wednesday’s launch

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX says it is giving up on landing the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean after Wednesday’s launch of a NOAA space weather observatory due to rough seas in the booster recovery zone off Florida’s East Coast.

Commercial Dragon supply ship returns to Earth

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship wrapped up a 29-day stay at the International Space Station on Tuesday, departing the complex with nearly 3,700 pounds of research specimens, a balky spacesuit and experimental 3D printed parts before re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by high winds aloft

February 11, 2015 Stephen Clark

Unfavorable high-altitude winds above Cape Canaveral on Tuesday kept a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket loaded with a NOAA space weather observatory on the ground another day.

Video: SpaceX Dragon departs space station

February 10, 2015 Justin Ray

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm to fly home Tuesday.