The legs for Falcon 9’s first stage.
The legs for Falcon 9’s first stage.
They might make their first flight on the next supply mission to ISS, now scheduled for no earlier than March 1.
Tag: Falcon 9
SpaceX on Monday successfully launched its second geosynchronous commercial satellite.
The competition heats up: SpaceX on Monday successfully launched its second geosynchronous commercial satellite.
I expect the company to now step up the pace of its launches.
The second commercial launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed three days until January 6 because an unspecified issue with the rocket’s fairing.
The second commercial launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed three days until January 6 because an unspecified issue with the rocket’s fairing.
It appears the company wants to do some additional inspections of the rocket, just to be sure all is well. They haven’t been more specific then this,
Elon Musk outlines the upcoming test program for the development of the man-rated Dragon capsule.
Elon Musk outlines the upcoming test program for the development of the man-rated Dragon capsule.
The bottom line is that they are planning two major unmanned flight tests in 2014, followed by a manned flight test in 2015. The manned flight would use their employees, not NASA astronauts.
SpaceX successfully completed a static fire engine test Saturday in preparation for its next commercial satellite launch on January 3.
The competition heats up: SpaceX successfully completed a static fire engine test Saturday in preparation for its next commercial satellite launch on January 3.
It will be a busy next two months for commercial space. Cygnus is scheduled to launch on January 7, while Dragon makes its next flight on February 22. During that same time period a Russian Progress freighter will be launched. Also, there will be two Ariane 5 launches and one Proton launch, plus one commercial launch by India along with that country’s first launch of its home-built GSLV rocket.
As I say, the competition is heating up.
SpaceX has set December 31 as the launch date for its next Falcon 9 commercial launch.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has set December 31 as the launch date for its next Falcon 9 commercial launch.
They are picking up the pace. This will be SpaceX’s second commercial launch in December and its second geosynchronous launch. If they prove they can keep this pace through 2014 they will not only clear away a large amount of the launch backlog, they will establish themselves as a solid player in the launch market, a company that the competition must fear due to its low prices.
SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
All is go for today’s Falcon 9 launch with less than four minutes left in the countdown. You can watch it live here.
We have liftoff. The real moment of truth on this launch will be once the rocket is in orbit. Can its upper stage relight to lift the SES satellite to geosynchronous orbit?
The rocket is now in orbit. The final engine burn and payload separation will occur within the hour.
The second stage engine burn has been successful. We now await payload separation.
The payload has separated successfully and has been delivered to its planned orbit.
With this successful launch SpaceX is poised to dominate the launch industry. Every other launch company has got to cut its prices in half, or more, in order to compete.
SpaceX now plans its next launch attempt of the first Falcon 9 geosynchronous launch for Tuesday at 5:41 pm (Eastern).
SpaceX now plans its next launch attempt of the first Falcon 9 geosynchronous launch for Tuesday at 5:41 pm (Eastern).
Can’t light a Falcon 9 without a spark.
Can’t light a Falcon 9 without a spark.
The article is an interesting analysis of why Thursday’s Falcon 9 launch was scrubbed. They are aiming to try again Monday evening.
The Falcon 9 rocket had an abort at launch today at 5:39 Eastern.
The Falcon 9 rocket had an abort at launch today at 5:39 Eastern.
The rocket is safe on the launchpad. They are assessing the situation. SpaceX has a remarkably good record of launching quickly and successfully after a launch abort, sometimes within an hour.
The countdown has been reset for a 6:44 pm Eastern launch, the latest they can in their launch window, and has resumed. You can watch it live here.
It appears that they have resumed the countdown, even as they continue to assess, so that if all is well they will be able to launch within their window. This means however they are not yet go for launch.
They now say they are go for launch, even as they assess. In addition, their customer, SES, has given them 20 more minutes on their launch window.
I just love how SpaceX seems to always have an abort-at-launch whenever I am free to watch. I think this is the fourth abort-at-launch nail-biter I have seen.
They have aborted the countdown again at T-48 seconds. They have also scrubbed for the day. It appears they had not completed their assessment of the original abort and decided to scrub. The next launch attempt date is not yet known.
SpaceX has scrubbed today’s first geosynchronous launch of its Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX has scrubbed today’s first geosynchronous launch of its Falcon 9 rocket.
The scrub occurred after the third unplanned hold. There was an issue with the first stage, but more information has not yet been released, though they also said that they have rescheduled the next launch attempt for Thursday, 5:38 pm, on Thanksgiving.
“The entry of SpaceX into the commercial market is a game changer. It’s going to really shake the industry to its roots.”
As said by the chief technology officer of one of the world’s largest satellite communications company, in reference to today’s scheduled 5:37 pm (Eastern) launch of Falcon 9’s first geosynchronous satellite payload. As this man and Elon Musk also added,
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