Falcon 9
Spaceflight gears up for dedicated Falcon 9 launch
Spaceflight announced Aug. 6 that it’s beginning final preparations for a dedicated Falcon 9 launch later this year carrying more than 70 smallsats for a variety of commercial, government and educational customers.
SpaceX launches penultimate Iridium Next mission
SpaceX launched 10 Iridium Next telecom satellites July 25 on a Falcon 9 rocket, bringing Iridium’s constellation one launch away from completion.
NBN preps business broadband offer with underused Sky Muster capacity
An NBN executive estimated the business service will use 15 percent of the capacity on the Sky Muster satellite system.
SpaceX launches five Iridium satellites and twin science spacecraft
A SpaceX Falcon 9 still sporting soot from its last mission successfully launched May 22 with five Iridium Next satellites and two science satellites for NASA and the German Research Center for Geosciences.
Musk details Block 5 improvements to Falcon 9
SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk on May 10 went into detail on modifications made to the latest version of the Falcon 9, including redesigning a pressure vessel implicated in the rocket’s 2016 pre-launch explosion.
SpaceX launches Bangladeshi satellite on debut Block 5 Falcon 9 mission
SpaceX on May 11 successfully launched its most modern and final Falcon 9 rocket, delivering Bangabandhu-1, the first Bangladeshi telecom satellite, into geostationary transfer orbit.
SpaceX targeting 24-hour turnaround in 2019, full reusability still in the works
SpaceX has set an ambitious goal for 2019: using the same Falcon 9 booster to conduct two launches in 24 hours.
Falcon 9 deploys Iridium satellites after SpaceX ends video citing NOAA’s orders
SpaceX delivered its latest batch of Iridium Next satellites to orbit Friday morning, but stopped its live video feed nine minutes into the launch citing orders from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Efforts underway to ease Florida’s Space Coast launch congestion
The recent launch boom on Florida’s Space Coast is creating some headaches for the companies involved, as well as for NASA and the U.S. Air Force.
NASA investigation linked 2015 Falcon 9 failure to design error
A NASA investigation into a 2015 SpaceX launch failure concluded a design flaw, rather than a manufacturing defect, likely initiated the chain of events that destroyed the vehicle.
SpaceX launches Hispasat satellite, completes 50th Falcon 9 mission
SpaceX launched its 50th Falcon 9 rocket on March 6, carrying a large telecom satellite for Spanish fleet operator Hispasat.
Falcon 9 launch to wait until after Atlas 5 mission
The U.S. Air Force has decided not go ahead with a proposal to support two launches from the Eastern Range in less than 24 hours this week, but officials say being able to do so remains a goal as part of efforts to support increased launch activity.
