After the various trials of the ultimately successful SES-8 mission on December 3rd, SpaceX’s New Year’s resolutions almost certainly included a trouble free flight for its second GTO launch in 34 days, and the first of a busy 2014. And that is exactly what they got. This evening’s liftoff took place on time at the […]
SpaceX is on track for the liftoff of Thaicom-6 this evening, in a launch window which opens at 5:06 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40. If all goes as planned, the Falcon 9 V1.1, in its second mission from Cape Canaveral, and its third overall, will launch the 3,016 kg satellite to an orbital slot […]
Lifting off on time at 5:41 pm ET from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-40, the first SpaceX Falcon 9 booster carrying a commercial communications satellite has successfully placed its payload, the SES-8 comsat into geostationary transfer orbit. Tonight’s launch was the culmination of a long and at times trying campaign which saw two previous attempts over […]
It was back to the hanger for SpaceX, as the second attempt to launch the Falcon 9 SES-8 mission made it all the way through a smooth countdown and right up until the moment of engine ignition when launch computers aborted the count at t plus 2 seconds. After going back into a hold to […]
Note, the next launch of the Falcon 9 v1.1., and the first from Cape Canaveral, is provisionally set for Monday, November 25th. NASA Press Release RELEASE 13-337 NASA Commercial Crew Partner SpaceX Achieves Milestone in Safety Review Engineers and safety specialists from NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) met in late October to review the […]
Below is a NASA press release announcing the completion of a review for SpaceX’s planned in-flight abort test of the Dragon capsule for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. It is interesting to note that this test will come after SpaceX has already completed a separate pad abort test earlier in the year. If both are successful, […]
Yesterday’s announcement that SpaceX will be conducting engine testing at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi has provided a bit more insight into the company’s future plans, as well as its steadily evolving business savvy. For those who follow the technology, the announcement is one of the first pieces of publicly released information regarding the […]
SpaceX released this video today of its Grasshopper reusable test article climbing to 744 meters, and then descending safely back to the pad at its McGregor, Texas development facility. Although the company will not be attempting to recover the Falcon 9 first stage on its next two flights, that of the SES-8 and Thaicom-6 satellites […]
It began with a historic berthing in LEO, and ended with the successful return to flight of a troubled booster steeped in anachronism. And right in the middle, the future emerged on a pillar of fire piercing a blue Pacific sky. To begin at the ending, the oft troubled Proton booster returned to flight Sunday […]
UPDATE: According to multiple sources, the CASSIOPE satellite and all secondary payloads have deployed successfully. By any standards, SpaceX has had an exceptional day. The inaugural flight of the new SpaceX Falcon 9 V1.1 began with an on-time liftoff at 9:00 AM PDT this morning. With no holds, or apparent issues of any sort, the […]
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