Category: Commercial
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SpaceX launches 4th Iridium Next Mission
SpaceX concluded it’s launch manifest for 2017 with the successful launch of the 4th Iridium Next and deployment of another ten Iridium Next satellites. The booster used for this mission previously launched ten Iridium Next satellites in June of this year. This was the 18th launch this year for SpaceX and 45th Falcon 9, unlike…
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SpaceX launches CRS-13 mission to ISS
SpaceX successfully launched their CRS-13 mission to the International Space Station today marking the return to flight for Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). The launch was delayed a couple of days to allow SpaceX time to resolve an issue with particles in the 2nd stage fuel system. This launch…
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SpaceX return LC-40 to operations with CRS-13 static fire test
SpaceX returned their Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) Launch Complex 40 (LC-40) to operation today following a successful static fire test of the booster designated to take CRS-13 to the International Space Station next week. The pad which was damaged during the AMOS 6 accident in September 2016 has been repaired and a new…
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ULA launches JPSS-1
United Launch Alliance launched the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration JPSS-1 satellite on the penultimate Delta II rocket. The launch was delayed several times due to technical issues with the rocket then upper-level winds but finally launched successfully at 4:47 am EST today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lliRByi7k48
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Orbital ATK launches Cygnus on OA-8 mission
Following a one day delay, due to a wayward plane during the countdown yesterday, Orbital ATK successfully launched their Cygnus spacecraft, S.S. Gene Cernan today for an International Space Station rendezvous on Tuesday. This was the second Cygnus launch on the companies own Antares 230 vehicle, which uses the Russia RD-181 engines. This was the…
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SpaceX launches Koreasat 5A, doubles previous year launch count
SpaceX continued their record settings year with the launch of the Koreasat 5A payload today from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. This was the 16th launch of the year for SpaceX doubling last years launch total with potentially three more to come and was the 13th landing with the first stage returning to the Autonomous…
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Blue Origin completes BE-4 hot fire test
Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin sent a tweet out today with the news that they had completed the first hot fire test of their BE-4 engine which will be used to power their New Glenn rocket and could also be selected by United Launch Alliance (ULA) to power their Vulcan rocket. First hotfire of our…
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SpaceX launches SES 11/EchoStar 105
SpaceX completed their 15th launch of 2017 with the delivery of the SES 11/EchoStar 105 satellite to orbit this evening, this was the 3rd launch using a flight-proven booster. Following a smooth countdown the rocket lifted off at 6:53 pm EDT and 37 minutes later delivered the payload to orbit. Following the successful launch, the…
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SpaceX completes Iriduim-3 launch
This morning SpaceX completed the third of their Iridium Next launches delivery another ten satellites to orbit. As with the previous Iridium launches the rocket lifted off from SpaceX’s Vandenburg launch site at 8:37 am EDT. Once in orbit, the ten satellites were delivered to their destinations successfully. After separation, the first stage of the…
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SpaceX launches OTV-5
SpaceX completed another important milestone with the successful launch of the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 5 (OTV-5) today. Despite the weather showing only a 50% chance that it would cooperate SpaceX was able to lift off at 10:00 am EDT. Due to the secrecy of the launch, SpaceX only showed the launch…