Tag: top story
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SpaceX almost ready to launch NASA asteroid impact spacecraft
Revealed as a side note during live coverage of the space agency’s successful Landsat-9 launch, NASA says that the Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) spacecraft has arrived at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) ahead of a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch less than two months from now. Weighing around 690 kg (~1500 lb) at liftoff, NASA…
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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk explains why Blue Origin’s Starship lawsuit makes no sense
For the first time since SpaceX competitor Blue Origin took NASA to federal court after losing a Moon lander contract to Starship and a protest over that loss, unsealed documents have finally revealed the argument Jeff Bezos’ space startup is focusing on in court. After the details broke in new court documents filed on Wednesday,…
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SpaceX to launch Falcon Heavy rocket 3 times in 6 months after latest payload delay
For at least the second time in 2021, unspecified issues with a US military payload have delayed SpaceX’s next Falcon Heavy launch, this time pushing the mission into next year. Known as USSF-44 (formerly AFSPC-44), the US Air Force (now Space Force) contracted a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in February 2019 to launch the classified…
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SpaceX reveals first Starlink ‘Dishy’ production figures, teases major expansion
A SpaceX executive has revealed the first concrete Starlink user terminal (dish) production figures and plans for imminent upgrades. Speaking at 2021’s annual SATELLITE conference on September 7th, SpaceX chief financial officer Bret Johnson says that the company is currently producing around 5000 Starlink dishes every week, equating to an annual capacity of a quarter…
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SpaceX repairing heat shield, reinstalling Raptors on first orbital-class Starship
SpaceX has begun reinstalling three of the six Raptor engines that will power the first orbital-class Starship and repairing the heat shield that will hopefully protect it on its first trip to space. Known as Starship 20 or S20, the 50m (~165 ft) tall steel rocket prototype has been stationed at one of SpaceX’s two…
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SpaceX rolls Inspiration4 Falcon 9 rocket to the pad for historic launch
SpaceX has rolled the Falcon 9 rocket that will launch the historic Inspiration4 private astronaut mission to its NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch facilities. Part of a vistor’s center bus tour of the NASA center, Reddit and YouTube user whiterice98 caught the SpaceX rocket in motion as it was transported from a brand new…
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SpaceX’s first West Coast Starlink launch orbits 51 new ‘space laser’ satellites
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has successfully launched 51 upgraded laser-linked Starlink satellites from its Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) – the first mission of its kind out of the company’s west coast launch facilities. Known as Starlink Group 2-1, the mission debuted the operational design of new V1.5 Starlink satellites with laser interlinks that…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 booster returns to port on upgraded drone ship
Upgraded SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall Of Gravitas (ASOG) returned to Port Canaveral on Tuesday, August 31st after a flawless inaugural Falcon 9 booster landing. In a pleasant coincidence, the brand new drone ship was greeted by an even newer member of SpaceX’s rocket recovery fleet, which had arrived just hours before after bidding farewell…
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SpaceX Falcon 9 wins second geostationary commsat launch contract of 2021
SpaceX and Middle Eastern satcom provider Yahsat have announced a contract to launch the company’s next-generation Thuraya 4-NGS satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket in the second half of 2023. Apparently falling between the cracks, SpaceX also reportedly won a contract in July to launch a South Korean Earth observation satellite on a Falcon 9…
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SpaceX fires up Falcon 9 rocket for first California Starlink launch
SpaceX says it has successfully static fired the Falcon 9 rocket scheduled to support its first California launch in ten months and first dedicated West Coast Starlink mission ever. Falcon 9 last used SpaceX’s Vandenberg Air/Space Force Base (VAFB) SLC-4 facilities in November 2020 when it successfully launched NASA and the European Space Agency’s Sentinel…