SpaceX

SpaceX rocket launched carrying Israel's first lunar lander
SCIENCE NEWS | FEBRUARY 21, 2019 | 6:57 PM | UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Thursday night carrying Israel’s first lunar lander on a mission that if successful will make the Jewish state only the fourth nation to ever to achieve a controlled touchdown on the moon’s surface.

The unmanned robotic lander dubbed Beresheet - Hebrew for the biblical phrase “in the beginning” - soared into space from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 8:45 p.m. EST (0145 GMT Friday) atop the 23-story-tall rocket.

SpaceX launches 60 more satellites
Jan 6, 2020

SpaceX launched 60 more mini internet satellites late Monday, testing a dark coating to appease stargazers. It's a "first step" compromise between SpaceX and astronomers fearful of having dark skies spoiled by bright satellites circling overhead.

SpaceX destroys rocket in astronaut escape test
•Jan 19, 2020

SpaceX completed the last big test of its crew capsule before launching astronauts in as little as two months, mimicking an emergency escape shortly after liftoff Sunday. (Jan. 19)

Starlink Mission
Streamed live on Jan 29, 2020
SpaceX

SpaceX is targeting Wednesday, January 29 at 9:09 a.m. EST, or 14:09 UTC, for its fourth launch of Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Falcon 9’s first stage previously launched Crew Dragon on its first demonstration mission in March 2019 and the RADARSAT Constellation Mission in June 2019. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

Approximately 45 minutes after liftoff, SpaceX’s two fairing recovery vessels, “Ms. Tree” and “Ms. Chief,” will attempt to recover the two fairing halves.

SpaceX launches station supplies, records 50th rocket landing
Posted: Mar 7, 2020 / 06:08 PM EST / Updated: Mar 7, 2020 / 06:08 PM EST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX successfully launched another load of station supplies for NASA late Friday night and nailed its 50th rocket landing.

The Falcon rocket blasted off with 4,300 pounds (1,950 kilograms) of equipment and experiments for the International Space Station. Just minutes later, the spent first-stage booster made a dramatic midnight landing back at Cape Canaveral, its return accompanied by sonic booms.

“And the Falcon has landed for the 50th time in SpaceX history!” SpaceX engineer Jessica Anderson announced amid cheers at Mission Control. “What an amazing live view all the way to touchdown.”

The Dragon capsule, meanwhile, hurtled toward a Monday rendezvous with the space station.

It’s the 20th station delivery for SpaceX, which has launched nearly 100,000 pounds (45,360 kilograms) of goods to the orbiting outpost and returned nearly that much back to Earth since it began shipments in 2012. Northrop Grumman is NASA’s other commercial shipper.

SpaceX founder and chief executive Elon Musk said it was the windiest conditions ever — 25 mph to 30 mph (40 kph to 48 kph) — for a booster landing at Cape Canaveral, but he wanted to push the envelope. The landing was the 50th successful touchdown of a SpaceX booster following liftoff, either on land or at sea.

“Envelope expanded,” Musk tweeted following touchdown.

The company’s first booster landing was in 2015, intended as a cost-saving, rocket-recycling move. Both the latest booster and Dragon capsule were recycled from previous flights.

Among the science experiments flying: an analysis of running shoe cushioning in weightlessness by Adidas, a water droplet study by Delta Faucet Co. striving for better showerhead water conservation, 3D models of heart and intestinal tissue, and 320 snippets of grape vines by Space Cargo Unlimited, the same Luxembourg startup that sent 12 bottles of red wine to the space station last November for a year of high-altitude aging.

The Dragon also contained treats for the two Americans and one Russian at the space station: grapefruit, oranges, apples, tomatoes, Skittles, Hot Tamales and Reese’s Pieces.

As for packing the capsule for launch, no extra precautions were taken because of the global coronavirus outbreak, according to NASA. The usual stringent precautions were taken to avoid passing along any germs or diseases to the space station crew. The doctor-approved procedures have proven effective in the past, officials noted.

This is the last of SpaceX’s original Dragon cargo capsules. Going forward, the company will launch supplies in second-generation Dragons, roomier and more elaborate versions built for crews.

The company aims to launch NASA astronauts this spring. The California-based SpaceX also teaming up with other companies to fly tourists and private researchers to the space station, as well as high solo orbits in the next couple years.

Why SpaceX Bought An Entire Village

MAY 26, 2020 / 5:10 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Musk's SpaceX set for debut astronaut mission, renewing NASA's crewed launch program
Joey Roulette

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX is set to launch two American astronauts to the International Space Station on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, ending the U.S. space agency’s nine-year hiatus in human spaceflight.

California-based SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule carrying astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken and its Falcon 9 rocket is due to lift off at 4:33 p.m. EDT (2033 GMT) on Wednesday from the same launch pad used by NASA’s last space shuttle mission in 2011.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will view the launch in person, a White House spokesman said.

For Musk, SpaceX and NASA, a safe flight would mark a milestone in the quest to produce reusable spacecraft that can make space travel more affordable. Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Inc.

“Bob and I have been working on this program for five years, day in and day out,” Hurley, 53, said as he and Behnken, 49, arrived at the Kennedy Space Center from Houston last week. “It’s been a marathon in many ways, and that’s what you’d expect to develop a human-rated space vehicle that can go to and from the International Space Station.”

NASA, hoping to stimulate a commercial space marketplace, awarded $3.1 billion to SpaceX and $4.5 billion to Boeing Co to develop dueling space capsules, experimenting with a contract model that allows the space agency to buy astronaut seats from the two companies.

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule is not expected to launch its first crew until 2021.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine declared the mission a “go” last week at Kennedy Space Center after space agency and SpaceX officials convened for final engineering checks.

SpaceX successfully tested Crew Dragon without astronauts last year in its first orbital mission to the space station. That vehicle was destroyed the following month during a ground test when one of the valves for its abort system burst, causing an explosion that triggered a nine-month engineering investigation that ended in January.

MAY 26, 2020 / 10:30 AM / UPDATED 3 HOURS AGO
Elon Musk's SpaceX raises $346 million ahead of debut astronaut mission
REUTERS.

(Reuters) - Elon Musk’s SpaceX said on Tuesday that it raised $346.2 million in a new round of funding, a day before it launches two American astronauts to the International Space Station.

The private rocket company’s launch of its first crewed mission on Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida will put an end to the U.S. space agency’s nine-year hiatus in human spaceflight.

The launch, which will be attended by President Donald Trump, is crucial for Musk, SpaceX and NASA.

A successful flight will mark a milestone in the quest to produce reusable spacecraft that can make space travel more affordable. Musk is the founder and chief executive officer of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla Inc.

Including the latest round, the company has raised more than $567 million and is valued at about $36 billion, according to a CNBC report.

SpaceX launch aborted due to weather
ABC News • May 27, 2020

NASA cancels the May 27 launch attempt at Kennedy Space Center due to the weather.

https://www.spacelaunchschedule.com/launch-schedule/launch-details.php

Watch live



OR

The lift off:

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1266812660374528001

SpaceX launches 58 more Starlink internet satellites in fast-growing constellation
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD
JUNE 13, 2020 / 8:06 AM / CBS NEWS

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket boosted a ninth batch of Starlink internet relay satellites into space early Saturday along with three Planet-owned imaging satellites hitching a ride in SpaceX's first "SmallSat Rideshare" launch.

SpaceX's 10th Falcon 9 flight so far this year got underway at 5:21 a.m. ET when the nine Merlin 1D engines in the twice-flown first stage roared to life, pushing the 230-foot-tall rocket away from pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

In a departure from long-standing practice, SpaceX opted not to test fire the first stage engines before launch. But the "flight-proven" first stage chalked up a picture-perfect climb out of the lower atmosphere, putting on a spectacular show as it shot through thin clouds and lighted them from above.



A time exposure captures the Falcon 9's climb out of the lower atmosphere early Saturday, boosting 58 Starlink internet relay stations toward orbit along with three remote-sensing satellites. It was SpaceX's tenth flight so far this year.

Two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the engines shut down, the stage fell away and the single vacuum-rated Merlin powering the second stage ignited to continue to climb to orbit.

As usual for Falcon 9 flights, the first stage flipped around after separation, putting itself in an engine-forward orientation as it fell back toward the lower atmosphere.

After a short three-engine burn to slow down for re-entry, the booster homed in on an off-shore droneship -- the "Of Course I Still Love You" -- and settled to a smooth touchdown using a single engine. It was the 35th successful droneship landing and SpaceX's 54th overall.

About 10 seconds after touchdown, the second stage engine shut down after reaching the planned orbit. The three SkySat imaging satellites then were deployed one at a time, followed by 58 small Starlinks that were released in a single group, slowly spreading apart as they separated.

Planet's SkySat-16, 17 and 18 were on board as part of SpaceX's first rideshare launch in which the California rocket-builder provides low-cost access to space for small satellites that might otherwise have to wait for rides on other boosters that don't fly as often.

Three more SkySats are scheduled to fly aboard a Falcon 9 in July.

"We had a really good experience," Mike Safyan, vice president of launch at Planet, told Spaceflight Now. "We were ready to launch, and if we were to go to a dedicated launch service provider, then it could take 12 or 18 months for them to build their launch vehicle from scratch and fit it into their manifest.

"Launch companies typically don't just have rockets sitting around on inventory that haven't been assigned. So being able to turn this around really quickly was another big advantage, and SpaceX is one of the few launch providers in the world that could do this so quickly."

Operating in a 250-mile-high orbit, SkySats provide high-definition commercial imagery that can be used by government agencies or other companies to monitor the environment, industrial development, land usage, population movement, disaster relief and other critical variables on a daily basis.

Skybox, the original developer of the SkySat system, was acquired by Google in 2014 and the name later was changed to Terra Bella. Google then sold the company to Planet in 2017, which merged them with a large fleet of more than 100 Dove and SuperDove remote sensing satellites.

The SkySats are about the size of mini refrigerators and weight about 240 pounds each.

"With a six-year lifetime, that gives us a pretty long runway with respect to what these SkySats will be able to provide," Safyan said. "We're looking at the future of high-res at Planet. It's still too early to talk about the details of that. But we will continue to offer both medium-res and high-res products to our customers."

With the SkySats on their way, the 58 Starlinks were released from the Falcon 9's second stage, boosting SpaceX's total to 538 internet relay stations through nine launches, seven of them this year.

The company plans to begin offering space-based internet service across the northern United States and Canada later this year with an initial fleet of more 700 satellites. As the constellation expands, so will internet access around the world. SpaceX has regulatory approval to launch more than 12,000 Starlinks.

Astronomers continue to assess the potential threat posed by thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit reflecting sunlight that could disrupt sensitive observations by the world's most powerful telescopes.

SpaceX is testing different techniques to reduce the brightness of the satellites, including dark coatings and sun shades, or visors, to minimize reflections from solar arrays. But the jury is still out on the long-range impact of large satellite constellations.

First published on June 13, 2020 / 8:06 AM

SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts slated for August 2 return
Joey Roulette, Reuters • July 17, 2020

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in SpaceX's first crewed flight in May are expected to return to Earth on Aug. 2 after spending two months in orbit, a NASA spokesman said on Friday.

U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will gear up for the final benchmark test of SpaceX's so-called Demo-2 mission: a coordinated splashdown somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean that will cap NASA's first crewed mission from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.

Since 2011, when the U.S. space shuttle program ended, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft.

Boeing Co, which is producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year. NASA has awarded nearly $8 billion combined to SpaceX and Boeing for development of their rival rockets.

Behnken is gearing up for his final spacewalk on July 21 ahead of prepping with Hurley to depart the space station, NASA has said. Mission planners on Earth will be watching weather forecasts to calculate the precise time and location of Crew Dragon's splashdown, the NASA spokesman said, adding the date could slip.

SpaceX capsule carrying NASA astronauts slated for August 2 return
Joey Roulette, Reuters • July 17, 2020

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The NASA astronauts who traveled to the International Space Station in SpaceX's first crewed flight in May are expected to return to Earth on Aug. 2 after spending two months in orbit, a NASA spokesman said on Friday.

U.S. astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will gear up for the final benchmark test of SpaceX's so-called Demo-2 mission: a coordinated splashdown somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean that will cap NASA's first crewed mission from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.

Since 2011, when the U.S. space shuttle program ended, NASA astronauts have had to hitch rides into orbit aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft.

Boeing Co, which is producing its own launch system in competition with SpaceX, is expected to fly its CST-100 Starliner vehicle with astronauts aboard for the first time next year. NASA has awarded nearly $8 billion combined to SpaceX and Boeing for development of their rival rockets.

Behnken is gearing up for his final spacewalk on July 21 ahead of prepping with Hurley to depart the space station, NASA has said. Mission planners on Earth will be watching weather forecasts to calculate the precise time and location of Crew Dragon's splashdown, the NASA spokesman said, adding the date could slip.