SpaceX – Page 74 – Spaceflight Now

International satellite launches to extend measurements of sea level rise

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

A European-built satellite with the unusual shape of a house launched into orbit Saturday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California’s Central Coast, carrying a sophisticated radar altimeter to measure rising sea levels on our home planet.

Photos: Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich encapsulated for launch

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

Check out photos of the encapsulation of the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich oceanography satellite inside the payload shroud of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches oceanography satellite from California

November 21, 2020 Stephen Clark

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 12:17 p.m. EST (9:17 a.m. PST; 1717 GMT) Saturday with an oceanography satellite jointly developed by U.S. and European space and weather agencies. The rocket’s first stage booster returned to a bullseye landing back at Vandenberg.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

November 20, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Falcon 9 launcher lifted off from Cape Canaveral Tuesday at 9:13 p.m. EST (0213 GMT Wednesday) with 60 more Starlink broadband satellites.

Crew Dragon “Resilience” meets Falcon 9 rocket at Florida spaceport

November 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

Fully fueled for a flight to the International Space Station later this month, SpaceX transferred the Crew Dragon “Resilience” spaceship Thursday to a hangar near pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for attachment to its Falcon 9 launcher.

SpaceX launches GPS navigation satellite from Cape Canaveral

November 6, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral with the U.S. Space Force’s newest third-generation Global Positioning System navigation satellite, helping clear the way for the launch of SpaceX’s first operational Crew Dragon astronaut mission later this month.

Live coverage: SpaceX launches GPS satellite

November 5, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 6:24 p.m. EST (2324 GMT) Thursday with the U.S. military’s next GPS navigation satellite. The mission was delayed more than a month after a previous countdown was aborted seconds before liftoff.

ULA scrubs Atlas 5 launch as SpaceX readies repaired rocket for GPS mission

November 4, 2020 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance called off the planned launch of an Atlas 5 rocket Wednesday at Cape Canaveral to resolve a problem with valves at the launch pad, while a SpaceX team a mile-and-a-half to the south readied a Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff Thursday evening with a GPS navigation satellite for the U.S. military.

SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket before GPS launch

October 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral on Saturday in a pre-flight checkout designed to verify the launcher’s engines are ready to loft a U.S. military GPS navigation satellite into orbit Nov. 5. An engine problem forced SpaceX to abort a launch attempt in early October.

SpaceX traces engine problem to blocked valve ahead of November crew launch

October 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is replacing two engines on the Falcon 9 booster set to launch four astronauts next month on the company’s first operational Crew Dragon flight to the International Space Station, following an investigation that revealed a subcontractor failed to adequately clean out narrow vent ports on multiple engines across the company’s fleet, officials said Wednesday.