Tag: SpaceX
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SpaceX loses CRS-7 mission to ISS
This morning SpaceX launched their latest mission to the International Space Station, unfortunately during the first stage flight the rocket exploded causing lost of Falcon, Dragon and the cargo it was carrying Among the cargo that Dragon was carrying was the first of two International Docking Adapters for the station which will be used…
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The Re-usable Rocket Era approaches
While SpaceX have yet to successfully land a Falcon 9 first stage it appears their vision has spurred the industry to react with both United Launch Alliance (ULA) and now Airbus Aerospace announcing plans to include re-usable components in future rocket designs. The three companies have quite different plans to achieve the re-use. SpaceX – Plan…
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LightSail in orbit
The first privately built Solar Sail spacecraft LightSail is now in orbit. Built by the Planetary Society the spacecraft was launched as a secondary payload on the Atlas V that launched earlier today. The successful deployment of the CubeSat was confirmed by the Societies Jason Davies via Twitter. Official #LightSail deployment time: 17:05:40.620, hh:mm:ss.sss (UTC).…
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SpaceX completes Dragon 2 pad abort test
SpaceX completed another CCiCap milestone today with the successful Launchpad Abort Test of there Dragon 2 capsule. The capsules 8 SuperDraco engines propelled the vehicle away from the launchpad to a splashdown in the Atlantic ocean. The purpose of the test was to verify the design of the launch escape system a critical element for…
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SpaceX launches TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat satellite
SpaceX has completed their 5th launch of the year with the delivery of the TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat satellite to orbit. The launch was delayed several weeks to allow SpaceX time to investigate issues they found with Helium bottles back at the factory and to allow the CRS-6 mission to take off on time. With this launch SpaceX…
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SpaceX Landing Attempt
For the second time SpaceX attempted to land a Falcon 9 first stage on the Autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) named “Just Read the Instructions”. For this attempt the rocket got very close but didn’t survive the attempt, the first time the rocket tipped over just before landing causing it to fall over the side.…
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SpaceX CRS-6 mission lifts off
SpaceX completed it’s fourth launch of 2015 with the liftoff of the CRS-6 Dragon capsule towards the International Space Station. SpaceX confirmed that after separation from the second stage the Dragon spacecraft successfully deployed it’s Solar Array’s and is now heading towards the International Space Station. It is scheduled to arrive at approximately 7:00 a.m. EDT on…
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Will ULA’s Vulcan bring down SpaceX
Almost as soon as United Launch Alliance’s Tory Bruno announced the new Vulcan rocket system did articles start to appear stating that it “would bring down SpaceX”. One from CNN also incorrectly stated that SpaceX aborted the landing of the first stage yesterday. While that may be the goal of ULA it is way too…
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SpaceX CRS-6 launch aborted due to Weather constraint
Today’s launch of a Falcon 9 carrying SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station was aborted two minutes before liftoff today due to weather constraints. A storm cell with Anvil clouds came too close to the launch pad during the countdown. Currently weather looks like there is a 50% chance of constraint for an…
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TurkmenSat 1 launch delayed
The launch of the TurkmenSat 1 satellite has been delayed due to a problem with the launch vehicle. Originally scheduled for 21st the Falcon 9 static fire test was planned for today. Waiting for word from SpaceX on when the new test will be performed. SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell reported that it was due to helium pressure…