SpaceX is preparing for another overnight launch out of Cape Canaveral. Scheduled to liftoff at 1:26 AM ET (5:26 AM UDT) early Sunday morning is JCSAT-16, a commercial communications satellite for SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation. The launch, which will take place from Space Launch Complex 40 aboard a Falcon 9 and has a 2-hour window, […]
It was definitely a case of mixed results for SpaceX today, as the company carried off another successful commercial launch of its Falcon 9 booster, but saw an attempted fourth consecutive drone ship landing come up short when one of three engines performing a last second deceleration burn under-performed, resulting in a hard landing on […]
It is a busy week for commercial space. Orbital ATK An Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo vessel departed the International Space Station at 9:30 AM EDT this morning, heading for its usual path of destruction high over the Pacific Ocean, but not before it performs a unique fire in space experiment, as well as releases […]
Update: Today’s launch has been scrubbed due to “a tiny glitch in the motion of an upper stage engine actuator.” Original story: Following a successful static fire on Tuesday, SpaceX is getting set for an early evening launch of the Thaicom 8 communications satellite out of Cape Canaveral. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:40 PM EDT, […]
SpaceX achieved its second consecutive successful landing at sea overnight as a part of the JCSAT-14 satellite launch to Geostationary Transfer Orbit. Coming less than one month after the first successful drone ship landing which took place during the NASA CRS-8 resupply mission to ISS on April 8, last night’s achievement was even more challenging […]
He declined to talk about his company’s plans for Mars, and seemed surprisingly apprehensive regarding the challenges in launching Falcon Heavy, but Elon Musk’s remarks at a post flight news conference for the CRS-8 mission dropped a bombshell that likely sent his competitors to bed with a stiff drink, if not stronger stuff. Having previously […]
The space age just got another red letter date added to its calendar. In what may go down as a comeback for the ages, literally, SpaceX rebounded from last year’s loss of the CRS-7 mission on June 28th, 2014 with a flawless liftoff of the CRS-8 Dragon capsule, and more importantly in the long run, […]
It was the homecoming SpaceX predicted, but certainly not the one the company wanted following the SES-9 launch on Friday. In the YouTube video below, the automated spaceport drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You” is towed into Port Canaveral with only small tarp covering what presumably are the remains of the Falcon 9 […]
After slogging through a frustrating launch campaign, SpaceX finally lofted the SES-9 satellite to geostationary transfer orbit on Friday evening. Liftoff of the first Falcon 9 Full Thrust carrying a comsat to GTO, and the second overall, took place on time at 6:35 pm Eastern from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. Shortly thereafter, company founder Elon Musk confirmed […]
Although there has been little official word regarding the exact cause of last Thursday’s launch scrub, SpaceX and SES are now targeting this evening at 6:46 pm ET for launch of the SES-9 mission. While the launch window runs to 8:20 pm, the expectations are that if the Falcon 9 Full Thrust does not lift […]
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