SpaceX

SpaceX clears Falcon Heavy for liftoff after launch pad lightning strike

Lightning strikes Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday night, with a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket awaiting liftoff. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX says engineers completed checks of the Falcon Heavy rocket, its satellite payloads, and ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center after a lightning strike on the launch pad’s tower Thursday night, part …

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SpaceX launches largest rocket ever built, but test flight ends in explosion

SpaceX’s Starship rocket, nearly 40 stories tall, climbs off its launch pad at the Starbase launch site in South Texas. Credit: Trevor Mahlmann / Spaceflight Now After years of anticipation, SpaceX launched the first test flight of its full-scale Starship rocket Thursday from South Texas, but the mission ended four minutes later as the vehicle …

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SpaceX launches Transporter 7 rideshare mission from California

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with 51 small satellites and payloads. Credit: SpaceX After several delays to wait for improved weather, SpaceX sent a Falcon 9 rocket into space late Friday night from California’s Central Coast with 51 small satellites, payloads, and orbital transfer vehicles from customers …

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FAA clears SpaceX to launch world’s largest rocket

SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy rocket on their launch pad in South Texas. Credit: SpaceX The Federal Aviation Administration approved a commercial license Friday for the first full-scale test flight of SpaceX’s nearly 400-foot-tall Super Heavy and Starship mega-rocket from South Texas, a launch SpaceX said could happen as soon as Monday morning. “After a comprehensive …

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Falcon Heavy test-fired at Kennedy Space Center

The test-firing of 27 engines on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket Thursday sent a plume of exhaust out of the flame trench at Launch Complex 39A. Credit: Spaceflight Now SpaceX test-fired 27 main engines on a Falcon Heavy rocket Thursday in Florida, clearing a hurdle before installing three commercial communications satellites on the launcher for a …

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Preparations underway for SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket for the ViaSat 3 Americas mission inside the hangar at Launch Complex 39A. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy mission, set for April 18 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will launch a powerhouse bus-sized broadband satellite for Viasat into a high-altitude circular geostationary orbit, a demanding flight profile that …

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SpaceX readying Starship rocket for around-the-world test flight as soon as next week

SpaceX’s Super Heavy booster and Starship rocket stand fully stacked at the company’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX said Tuesday it won’t perform a final countdown dress rehearsal this week for the giant new Starship launch vehicle, and could send the rocket — standing nearly 40 stories tall on its Texas …

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Watch live: SpaceX counting down to launch of Intelsat satellite with NASA air quality sensor

Watch our live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launch the Intelsat 40e communications satellite, which also hosts NASA’s TEMPO air quality monitoring instrument. Follow us on Twitter. SFN Live SpaceX is counting …

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NASA air quality sensor ready for launch with Intelsat satellite

Artist’s illustration of the TEMPO instrument’s scan of air quality across North America. Credit: NASA A $210 million NASA mission to improve air pollution monitoring over North America is set to launch Friday with an Intelsat communications satellite blasting off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution, …

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First launch for Pentagon’s own mega-constellation set for Thursday

This artist’s concept illustrates how the Space Development Agency’s mesh network will detect and track missiles, relay data, and perform navigation and tech demo missions. Credit: Space Development Agency The U.S. military’s Space Development Agency, established in 2019 to fast-track new national security capabilities in orbit, plans to launch the first 10 satellites for a …

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