SpaceX – Page 82 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s reusable Falcon booster returns to port after crew launch

June 2, 2020 Stephen Clark

Almost exactly three days after taking off a few miles to the north at the Kennedy Space Center on SpaceX’s historic first crew launch, a 15-story-tall Falcon rocket booster returned to Florida’s Space Coast Tuesday aboard a football field-sized drone ship.

SpaceX targets Wednesday night for next Starlink launch

June 1, 2020 Stephen Clark

Days after launching astronauts for the first time, SpaceX is set to resume a speedy cadence of satellite launches Wednesday night with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s next batch of Starlink broadband relay stations.

Photos: Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon blast off from pad 39A

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s first human-rated Crew Dragon spacecraft took off Saturday from historic launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, launching NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on the first piloted orbital space mission from a U.S. spaceport in nearly a decade.

Making history, astronauts ride commercial capsule to space station

May 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

A Crew Dragon spaceship built and owned by SpaceX glided to an automated docking with the International Space Station Sunday, delivering NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to the orbiting research complex after a trouble-free 19-hour flight from the Kennedy Space Center.

Watch the astronauts give a tour of their new Crew Dragon spacecraft

May 31, 2020 Spaceflight Now

Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken give a video tour of their new SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft as they close in on a docking with the International Space Station on May 31, 2020.

Dragon crew names their spacecraft Endeavour; complete first manual flight test

May 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

Hours after arriving in orbit, Dragon astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken completed their first manual flight test using touchscreen controls on the SpaceX’s new crew capsule, and revealed “Endeavour” as the name of their ship.

NASA astronauts launch from U.S. soil for first time in nine years

May 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

Two veteran NASA astronauts rocketed away from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday to begin a test flight of a new commercial spaceship designed, built and owned by SpaceX.

Photos: Falcon 9 and Crew Dragon await next launch attempt

May 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

These photos show the 215-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center, ready for launch on a test flight to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken when weather cooperates.

Managers weigh weather odds in deciding next Crew Dragon launch attempt

May 29, 2020 Stephen Clark

Mission managers are weighing a motley mix of weather models, safety criteria and astronaut workload considerations as they decide when SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft might have the best chance to launch from the Kennedy Space Center.

SpaceX Starship test vehicle explodes moments after test-firing

May 29, 2020 Stephen Clark

A full-size prototype of SpaceX’s Starship violently exploded in South Texas moments after a test-firing of its Raptor engine Friday, dealing a setback to the company’s next-generation reusable rocket program.