SpaceX – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

NASA, Axiom sign agreements moving ahead with first commercial station visit

May 10, 2021 William Harwood

NASA and Houston-based Axiom Space have signed a “mission order” setting the stage for four civilians to visit to the International Space Station early next year, the first fully commercial flight to the orbiting lab complex, agency managers said Monday.

SpaceX reaches rocket reuse milestone on Starlink launch

May 9, 2021 Stephen Clark

The launch of another 60 Starlink internet spacecraft from Cape Canaveral Sunday thrust SpaceX past a major milestone in rocket reuse: the 10th successful flight of a Falcon 9 booster. The mission marked the fourth SpaceX launch from Florida in 16 days, with the next batch of Starlink satellites due to blast off next Saturday.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral

May 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has launched its fourth Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast in less than 16 days. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off with 60 more Starlink internet satellites at 2:42 a.m. EDT (0642 GMT) Sunday. The reusable booster, making its 10th flight, landed on a drone ship parked in the Atlantic Ocean.

SpaceX ready to break another rocket reuse record with launch early Sunday

May 8, 2021 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 rocket and 60 more Starlink internet satellites set for launch early Sunday at Cape Canaveral will mark the first time SpaceX has flown a first stage 10 times, reaching a milestone that the company once said could be a limit for reusing boosters. Now SpaceX plans to keep flying reused rockets on Starlink missions until one fails.

Upgraded Starship prototype makes first soft landing after test flight

May 5, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched and landed an upgraded prototype for the company’s next-generation Starship vehicle in South Texas on Wednesday, the company’s first Starship test flight since winning a $2.9 billion NASA contract to use the craft to land astronauts on the Moon.

Starlink launch marks 100 missions since an in-flight Falcon rocket failure

May 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

The oldest Falcon 9 booster in SpaceX’s operational rocket fleet sent 60 more Starlink internet satellites into space Tuesday with a launch from historic pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches another Starlink mission

May 4, 2021 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:01 p.m. EDT (1901 GMT) Tuesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX successfully landed the Falcon 9 booster on a drone ship offshore.

Crew Dragon brings four astronauts back to nighttime splashdown

May 2, 2021 William Harwood

Four astronauts strapped into their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, undocked from the International Space Station and plunged to a fiery pre-dawn splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, closing out the first operational flight of SpaceX’s futuristic touch-screen ferry ship.

Live coverage: Four astronauts return home after 167 days in space

May 1, 2021 Spaceflight Now

NASA commander Mike Hopkins, pilot Victor Glover, astronaut Shannon Walker, and Japanese mission specialist Soichi Noguchi wrapped up a 167-day mission early Sunday with a splashdown at sea aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule at around 2:56 a.m. EDT (0656 GMT).

Astronauts describe thrilling ride to orbit on Falcon 9 rocket

April 30, 2021 William Harwood

When the countdown hit zero last Friday and the engines powering a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage roared to life for takeoff, the four astronauts strapped into a SpaceX Crew Dragon some 21 stories up started laughing.