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Watch SpaceX try a picture-perfect rocket landing at 7AM ET (updated)
Many SpaceX rocket landings have gotchas for viewers. Drone ship landings frequently mean shaky satellite video feeds, and nighttime launches just aren't very photogenic. You're about to have a much better look, however. SpaceX is launching a US spy satellite (NROL-76) on April 30th in circumstances that are about as good as you could hope for. The 7AM Eastern launch window opening is definitely early (especially if you're on the West coast), but it guarantees daylight at Cape Canaveral. And more importantly, there will be a ground landing -- you should get unfettered, high-quality video of the whole affair.
SpaceX is saving a ton of money by re-using Falcon 9 rockets
SpaceX is deep into the development of reusable rockets to slash launch costs for future missions, so one has to wonder how much its historic SES-10 mission saved. At the 33rd Space Symposium in Colorado, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell has revealed that the company spent "substantially less than half" the cost of a new first stage for the Falcon 9 reflight. While she didn't mention specific figures, that means huge savings, since the rocket's first stage accounts for around 75 to 80 of its total cost.
SpaceX releases video of its historic reused rocket landing
SpaceX made history last week when it successfully relaunched a previously-used rocket back into orbit (recovering the $6 million nosecone was just gravy). That rocket body could potentially be used yet again, given how spryly it set down on its drone barge, the Of Course I Still Love You, after delivering its SES-10 vehicle payload, if the company's Instagram post from Wednesday is any indication.
SpaceX recovers Falcon 9's $6-million nose cone for the first time
SpaceX just made history by launching the world's first reflight of an orbital rocket and landing its first stage on a barge again. The booster wasn't the only part of the rocket the company recovered from the SES-10 mission, though: it also managed to land Falcon 9's $6 million nose cone for the first time ever. A rocket's nose cone, found at its very tip, protects its payload and makes sure it offers minimum aerodynamic resistance. Musk has announced its recovery during the post-launch press conference, calling it "the cherry on the cake."
SpaceX successfully relaunched a Falcon 9 rocket
Today's SpaceX launch will be logged in the history books as the first time a flight-proven orbital class rocket has successfully been relaunched and returned to Earth. "We just had an incredible day today," CEO Elon Musk said after the first stage Falcon 9 rocket made a clean landing "right in the bullseye" on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You. "This is gonna be ultimately a huge revolution in spaceflight," Musk said. "It's been 15 years to get to this point. I'm sort of at a loss for words. It's been a great day for SpaceX and space exploration as a whole."
Watch SpaceX relaunch the first rocket it landed on a barge (update: it was a success)
SpaceX is getting ready for one historic flight. The private space corporation has announced on Twitter that all systems are ready for today's launch -- the weather seems to be cooperating, as well. In 60 minutes or so (around 6:30PM Eastern), we might see the company send the first rocket it landed on an ocean platform back to space. It's the first orbital mission ever to use a recovered rocket and will prove that Falcon 9 truly is reusable. The flight will ferry the SES-10 communications satellite to orbit, so it can provide broadband and mobile services in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. You can watch the event unfold through the company's live broadcast after the break.
ICYMI: SpaceX's rocket re-launch and a universal wireless charger
Today on In Case You Missed It: We take a look at SpaceX's plan to see if its rockets are really reusable. Tomorrow the company plans to send the first Falcon 9 rocket that successfully landed on its floating barge back into orbit where it will deploy a telecommunications satellite. Be sure to bring some popcorn. It's also time to get (milli)amped! The Juiced battery system uses wirelessly-charged 1500mAh power packs and a universal, tethered base station to charge up to 6 mobile devices at once. Squad goals! As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @terrortola.
SpaceX prepares to reuse the first rocket it landed on a barge
We might be days away from witnessing SpaceX make history. The private space corporation has conducted a static test fire (yet again) of the first rocket it landed on an ocean platform. SpaceX wants to make sure it's in tip-top shape for lift off, because it has finally decided on a date after almost a year of putting it off: March 30th. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin already sent a used rocket back to space in early 2016. But if the launch on Thursday is successful, it'll be the first orbital mission ever to fly with a used rocket.
SpaceX successfully blasts off from NASA's famous launch pad
After a last-moment delay, SpaceX has put NASA's legendary Launch Complex 39A back into action. The company successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the historic pad (best known for the Apollo 11 mission) Sunday morning, and topped it off by landing the first stage nearby. This is the first time the complex has been used since Space Shuttle Atlantis took off in 2011 -- and by extension, the first time a private spaceflight outfit has launched from it.
Watch a SpaceX Falcon 9 take off from NASA's historic launch pad (updated)
At 10:01 AM ET on February 18th, a SpaceX flight will take off from Launch Complex 39A for the first time since the company signed a 20-year lease for its use. The company will also attempt another first stage landing around 9 minutes after take off. Complex 39A is the same historic site where NASA used to launch space shuttles from the beginning through the end of the program. In 2013, the agency opened up the Kennedy Space Center launch pad to private space companies, which prompted Elon Musk and Blue Origin chief Jeff Bezos to bid against each other. After Musk won the bidding war, SpaceX began modifying the site for its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
SpaceX aims to launch ISS resupply mission on February 18th
After one of its Falcon 9 rockets exploded on the launch pad last September, SpaceX sprinted to get back on track, and achieved a successful comeback launch in mid-January. To deal with the backlog of launches delayed by the accident, the company set an ambitious schedule of liftoffs every two to three weeks. The first of these, they announced today, will be an ISS resupply mission using one of their Dragon capsules set to fly on February 18th.
Government watchdog says SpaceX Falcon 9s are prone to cracks
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets apparently have a serious issue that could delay the company's manned missions. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Government Accountability Office investigated both Boeing and SpaceX -- the corporations that won NASA's space taxi contracts -- and found that Falcon 9's turbine blades suffer from persistent cracks. GAO's preliminary report says these turboblades' tendency to crack is a "major threat to rocket safety," since they pump fuel into Falcon 9's rocket engines.
SpaceX test fires the first Falcon 9 it landed on a barge
SpaceX failed to launch a used Falcon 9 rocket back in May or June last year like it originally planned, but it's getting closer to its goal. The private space corporation had its historic Falcon 9 booster -- the very first one it successfully landed on a barge in April 2016 -- complete a static fire test at its Texas facility recently. It has revealed the development on Twitter and Instagram, where the company announced that it's "prepping [the booster] to fly again."
SpaceX is launching one of its last disposable rockets
SpaceX won't have to intentionally crash some of its rockets going forward. Elon Musk has revealed that SpaceX's next flight, which has a Falcon 9 delivering an EchoStar satellite as soon as January 30th, should use the company's last expendable rocket. This rocket will burn too much fuel for its first stage to attempt a landing (the satellite is simply too heavy at 5.4 imperial tons), but future big-payload launches will use either the higher-performance Falcon 9 (Block 5) or Falcon Heavy and shouldn't have trouble coping with the weight. The new Falcon should lift off at the end of 2017, Musk says.
ICYMI: SpaceX redeems itself with a showstopper rocket launch
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: SpaceX is back in launching mode after the FAA grounded the company following an unfortunate explosion last September. The rocket company successfully launched satellites from its revamped Falcon9, then the motor completed its landing on a SpaceX floating pad.
SpaceX's comeback launch was a success
2016 was a fairly good year for SpaceX, with Elon Musk's spaceflight company inching closer to developing a reusable rocket for missions. At least up until September, when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded during a pre-launch test on the pad at Cape Canaveral. The company quickly investigated and found that the craft's liquid oxygen had leaked out of a tank, with the resulting friction causing ignition. At last, however, SpaceX is ready to turn a corner: the private outfit has returned to flight by launching a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, delivering 10 Iridium Next satellites into orbit.
Watch the first SpaceX launch since September's explosion
SpaceX is busy preparing for its first Falcon 9 launch since its rocket exploded in September. The Iridium-1 mission will take off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California tomorrow, January 14th, and you can watch it all happen live after the break or through the space corporation's website. This mission is headed to Low Earth orbit to deliver 10 satellites for communications company Iridium. They're the first 10 of at least 70 satellites SpaceX will be ferrying to LEO for Iridium's global constellation.
SpaceX delays its comeback launch to January 14th
SpaceX's much-vaunted return to flight just hit a snag. Iridium has revealed that the Falcon 9 rocket launch has been pushed pack several days to January 14th, at 12:54PM Eastern. Why the long postponement when most delays tend to be a day or two at most? Simply put, the weather at Vandenberg Air Force Base will just be that terrible -- there are "high winds and rain" in the forecast for the next several days.
SpaceX will resume rocket launches on January 8th
After months of uncertainty and delays, SpaceX can finally say when it expects to resume rocket launches following its September launchpad explosion. The private spaceflight outfit is now aiming for a return to flight on January 8th, when a Falcon 9 will carry an Iridium Next satellite into space from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. And crucially, SpaceX has narrowed down accident's likely cause to the point where it has solutions that should prevent a repeat accident.
SpaceX delays first manned Dragon capsule launch until 2018
Elon Musk's plan to put a human crew in space using a Dragon capsule won't happen in 2017 after all. Although SpaceX was scheduled to launch a manned NASA mission next year, that mission has now been delayed until 2018 while Musk's company continues to evaluate its Falcon 9 rocket fueling system.
