SpaceX – Page 97 – Spaceflight Now

First Falcon Heavy night launch slips to June 24

June 7, 2019 Stephen Clark

The first nighttime launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, and the first Falcon Heavy flight for the U.S. military, is set for no earlier than June 24 from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Air Force officials said Friday.

NASA picks three companies to send commercial landers to the moon

June 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has announced that Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond won contracts to deliver science instruments and technology demonstration payloads to the moon’s surface in the first of a series of robotic missions preceding a human return to the moon.

Dragon capsule returns to Earth from space station with 2.1 tons of cargo

June 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

Closing out a 30-day mission, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule departed the International Space Station on Monday for a fiery trip back to Earth, culminating in re-entry back into the atmosphere and a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles.

Live coverage: Dragon cargo capsule returns to Earth

June 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

A commercial Dragon cargo capsule wrapped up a four-week stay at the International Space Station on Monday with a departure from the complex at 12:01 p.m. EDT (1601 GMT). The spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 5:48 p.m. EDT (2148 GMT) with several tons of research specimens and equipment.

NASA says SpaceX readying Crew Dragon capsule for possible piloted test flight by end of year

May 28, 2019 William Harwood

In parallel with an on-going failure investigation, SpaceX is readying downstream Crew Dragon spacecraft for flight in hopes that corrective actions can be implemented in time to launch two astronauts to the International Space Station before the end of the year, a senior NASA manager said Tuesday.

SpaceX’s first 60 Starlink broadband satellites deployed in orbit

May 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX successfully delivered the first 60 members of the company’s Starlink broadband satellite fleet to orbit Thursday night after a launch from Cape Canaveral.

Q&A with Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX (members only)

May 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and chief executive, spoke with reporters via conference call May 15 as the company prepared for the launch of the first 60 satellites to build out a network of potentially thousands of broadband relay stations in low Earth orbit providing high-speed Internet to consumers around the world.

SpaceX postpones Starlink launch to update satellite software

May 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

For the second consecutive day, SpaceX called off a Falcon 9 launch attempt at Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, this time to complete a software update on the first 60 satellites for the company’s Starlink network to provide high-speed Internet service from orbit.

SpaceX releases new details on Starlink satellite design

May 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

The 60 satellites SpaceX is set to launch Wednesday night, beginning the build-out of a broadband network of orbiting spacecraft that could eventually number thousands, are based on a new flat-panel design, with krypton-fueled plasma thrusters, high-power antennas, and a capability to autonomously steer away from other objects in space.

Falcon 9 launch timeline for the Starlink 1 mission

May 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network.