Monday, May 23

SpaceX

7Apr By EditorNo Comments
SpaceX

SpaceX plans prime time launch of Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday night – Spaceflight Now

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch SpaceX’s next batch of 49 Starlink broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SFN Live SpaceX Webcast Keeping up a rapid-fire launch cadence to begin 2022, SpaceX is gearing up to launch another Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with 49 Starlink internet satellites. Liftoff from pad 39A is set for 7:04 p.m. EST Tuesday (0004 GMT Wednesday) to kick off a 15-minute launch sequence before deploying the 49 flat-panel Starlink satellites into orbit. SpaceX delayed the launch from Monday night to wait for better conditions in the booster recovery zone in th...
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SpaceX gives converted Falcon Heavy side booster new life – Spaceflight Now
7Apr By EditorNo Comments
SpaceX

SpaceX gives converted Falcon Heavy side booster new life – Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with a booster stage converted from two previous Falcon Heavy missions, rolls through NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Dec. 8 toward its launch pad. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography A converted SpaceX side booster that flew on two Falcon Heavy missions in 2019 will launch again Thursday as the first stage of a single-stick Falcon 9 rocket set to lift off from Cape Canaveral with an Italian radar imaging satellite. Liftoff is set for 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT) Thursday from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida with a COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation radar surveillance satellite for the Italian government. The first stage booster assigned to the Falcon 9 mission mission is designated B1052 in SpaceX’s fleet. Tracking boos...
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Cruise ship under rocket’s flight path forces another SpaceX launch scrub – Spaceflight Now
7Apr By EditorNo Comments
SpaceX

Cruise ship under rocket’s flight path forces another SpaceX launch scrub – Spaceflight Now

A Falcon 9 rocket stands on pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Sunday evening before a launch attempt with an Italian COSMO-SkyMed radar imaging satellite. Credit: Stephen Clark / Spaceflight Now A cruise ship that ventured under the planned flight path of a Falcon 9 rocket near Cape Canaveral Sunday forced SpaceX to delay launch of an Italian Earth-imaging satellite for a fourth time, setting up the mission for another try just after sunset Monday. SpaceX was set to fire a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT), but the Coast Guard could not clear a cruise liner out of the rocket’s downrange hazard area in time for the mission’s instantaneous launch opportunity. The launch director called a hold in the countdow...
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Italian radar satellite rides SpaceX rocket into polar orbit – Spaceflight Now
7Apr By EditorNo Comments
SpaceX

Italian radar satellite rides SpaceX rocket into polar orbit – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket takes off just after sunset Monday with Italy’s sixth COSMO-SkyMed satellite. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX gave an Italian radar satellite a picture-perfect ride into orbit with a memorable Monday evening launch from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. A clear sunset sky offered spectators dazzling views of the reusable booster’s fiery climb into space and pyrotechnic plunge back to Earth. Variables outside SpaceX’s control kept the Falcon 9 rocket and Italy’s newest COSMO-SkyMed radar remote sensing satellite on the ground four straight days. Bad weather prevented launch Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, then a cruise ship leaving Port Canaveral strayed into a hazard area south of the spaceport Sunday, causing range safety officials to call a hold. But it all ca...
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SpaceX set to launch top secret spy payload from California – Spaceflight Now
7Apr By EditorNo Comments
SpaceX

SpaceX set to launch top secret spy payload from California – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket sits horizontal at Space Launch Complex 4-East on Tuesday ahead of a mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. Credit: Brian Sandoval / Spaceflight Now A classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office is closed up in the nose cone of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket for liftoff Wednesday from California’s Central Coast, debuting a brand new booster that will land back near the launch site for reuse on another national security mission later this year. Liftoff of the 229-foot-tall (70-meter) set for 12:18 p.m. PST (3:18 p.m. EST; 2018 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking SpaceX’s fifth launch of the year. The mission for the U.S. government’s spy satellite agency will aim to place its payload into a north-south po...
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