The advent of fully reusable launch systems took another partial step forward with last Thursday’s liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 carrying the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B space plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle. The mission, dubbed OTV-V, was the fifth launch overall for the fleet of two unmanned spacecraft, with the first […]
It was something like watching Michael Phelps or Katie Ledecky, you know the result is almost a foregone conclusion, but it still sure is fun to tune in, particularly if you are a fan of Team USA. During the overnight hours, SpaceX once again successfully launched a communications satellite on a commercial mission to Geostationary […]
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, […]
On a beautiful Florida evening just one calendar day shy of a full moon, SpaceX provided some illumination of its own, recording a flawless liftoff and landing of its Falcon 9 rocket during the course of launching its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station for the NASA CRS-9 mission. Liftoff took place on […]
All systems are go as SpaceX and NASA are counting down to the launch of a Falcon 9 booster and Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:45:23 AM EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. In a rare occurrence, a number of Kennedy Space Center […]
After pushing back a planned test flight of the New Shepard booster and capsule from Friday until Sunday due to a leaking O-ring in the capsule’s nitrogen gas pressurization system, Blue Origin made it four in a row with another successful launch and landing of both. The Father’s Day flight added two new wrinkles, one fans […]
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 […]
With “four on the floor” inside its new hangar at the Kennedy Space Centers’s launch pad 39-A, SpaceX has indicated it is now aiming for a fall re-flight of one of the Falcon 9 first stages which have been landed thus far. The news came, as it often does, via Elon Musk’s Twitter account: Fourth […]
After standing down for a day “out of an abundance of caution” to analyze errant readings on a second stage engine actuator, SpaceX ended the week on a spectacular note, successfully lofting the Thaicom 8 communications satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit, and then once again landing the first stage on at sea. Sped up video […]
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