Tag Archives: Falcon 9

SpaceX has followed up its successful launch and return of a Falcon 9 rocket earlier this year, with another, though this time the booster touched down at SpaceX's Landing Zone One, having taken off from the iconic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. Doubly successful, the mission's main payload, a Dragon capsule full …

With its 18th February launch window approaching, Space X has installed its Falcon 9 rocket at the launch pad in preparation. This is a historic event and one that has many Space X staff honoured by the opportunity, as the Cape Canaveral launch complex was where the original 1969 Saturn V …

Space X has returned to Low Earth Orbit once again, with the successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket over the weekend. In its first launch since a random unscheduled disassembly (RUD) on the launchpad in 2016, the rocket not only delivered its payload to orbit, but the first stage …

As well as trying to get the first human feet on Mars within the next decade, Space X has also been quietly working on a project which could deliver several thousand satellites into orbit, to provide global, high-speed internet access. Taking another step in that direction, Space X is now …

Space X has announced its intention to begin Falcon 9 rocket launches again as soon as November this year. This news comes after a recent catastrophe that saw one of the rockets explode on the Cape Canaveral launch pad, taking with it a $200 million Facebook owned satellite, as well …

Space X has had a slew of successes in 2016, so as if to remind us that the real world of space travel is far from easy, one of the commercial rocket firm's boosters exploded on the launch pad during a planned test. While no injuries occurred, the Amos-6 satellite …

One of the coolest things about rockets, is that they go unbelievably fast – relatively speaking. But that makes actually seeing everything they do rather difficult, especially when you factor in all of that light and exhaust. Fortunately Space X has some ultra-slow motion footage to give us a better …

After a troubled 2015, Space X has been landing first stage boosters from its Falcon 9 rocket all year. But the only way these recycled boosters can save the company money is if they can actually be re-used. On the road to that first re-usable rocket system, Space X has …

Space X has completed two major stages in its latest launch mission, sending a new docking port to the International Space Station (ISS). The payload has successfully been delivered into orbit around the Earth and the first stage booster has landed back on solid ground, marking only the second time …

Yesterday Space X once again sent up a Falcon 9 rocket to deliver a payload into Near Earth Orbit. That all went to plan, but on attempting to recover its fourth first-stage booster rocket in a row, a problem during the landing caused a rapid unscheduled disassembly (RUD), which in …

It was no fluke when Space X landed its Falcon 9 first stage rocket on its automated drone barge last month, as it's managed to do it again. This time following stage separation, sending the JCSAT-14 payload off into orbit, the first stage booster returned to Earth, landing smoothly on …

For the first time in more than a decade, a company other than Boeing or Lockheed Martin will be launching American military hardware into orbit, ending a monopoly the two had created in a very lucrative industry. The company that dismantled that long-running tradition? Space X, the relatively young space …

Although the big, scary and complex journey for the Space X Falcon 9 rocket was its launch and recovery on the drone barge earlier this month, it still had to take a trip to Space X's facility at the Kennedy Space Centre. After many days of travel on the back …

Following a successful testing of the Falcon 9 rocket engines and a readiness review the day after, Space X's latest launch is all set to go ahead at 4:43pm ET (8:43PM GMT) today, 8th April. The mission is set to carry supplies up to the International Space Station (ISS), as well …

Among many advances, the biggest contribution Space X stands to make to humanity's space-faring efforts, is in bringing the cost down for launches. With its reusable Falcon 9 first stage rocket, Space X believes it can make savings on traditional launches of almost a third, once it nails the recovery …

Space X has a lot of planned launches in 2016, more so than any previous year in-fact – that's why it's now mass producing the Falcon 9 rocket. However the second launch attempt since the new-year has been rather problematic, with the commercial space venture cancelling its last two launch …

Space X is ramping up production of its Falcon 9 rocket and to prove it, it showcased an image on its Instagram account of as many as five of the iconic boosters currently being constructed at its facilities. This comes just a few weeks after Space X COO, Gwynne Shotwell, …

Space X has once again narrowly missed out on a successful drone-ship landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster rocket. Although the orbital launch vehicle did manage to touch back down on the automated platform, it only stood upright for a few seconds before toppling over and exploding on …

Although Space X spent much of 2015 not launching rockets after a singular failure, it's starting 2016 off with a bang by launching a new payload into orbit this weekend. Better yet, after proving that its Falcon 9 first stage booster can be landed back on land, it's going to …

Although there were many great scientific breakthroughs in 2015, the most exciting for some came at the tail end of it. Space X's landing of a first stage rocket booster after separation represents a real turning point in space travel efficiency and thankfully, it looks like the rocket touched down …

It looks like no matter whether you're in the school playground or a billionaire CEO of a space-faring company, the size of your rocket matters. Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon.com, has sparked a heated response from Space X fans, after sending a tweet to Elon Musk, in a …

Space X made history in the early hours of this morning, when it launched its new and improved Falcon 9 rocket into Low-Earth Orbit, separating the first stage booster part-way through the ascent, and returning it safely to Earth. This is Space X's first successful landing of the first stage …

“Punting 24 hours,” sounds like a very relaxed way to push back the launch of a $50 million rocket, but that's exactly what Space X CEO Elon Musk did on Sunday, via Twitter. His announcement means that the improved Falcon 9 rocket carrying 11 ORBCOMM satellites will instead head into …

It's been nearly six months since Space X has launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets, after the last one spectacularly exploded due to an overpressure event shortly after launch in June. But this week will see the commercial space venture testing a new and improved version of the rocket, …

In a landmark moment in the history of space travel, a company has been selected to transport humans from the bounds of Earth, into the cosmos above, in its own capsule design. Space X, the company founded by Elon Musk in the early '00s has finally come of age and …

It's good that the New Horizons Pluto flyby went off (almost) without a hitch, as recent missions into the inky blackness of space haven't been quite so successful. The most recent failing was an explosion of Space X's CRS7 resupply mission to the ISS, which exploded during the first stage …

Elon Musk and his space faring company, Space X, have announced many different plans and projects over the past couple of years, but one of the most intriguing was the idea to put several hundred miniature satellites into orbit, to create a global, wireless internet network. While often dismissed it …

Space X's latest launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon supply capsule payload went off without a hitch last week. At least, in that it achieved orbit and successfully docked with the international space station to deliver much needed food, science experiments and other important tools for the …

Yesterday's launch of the Space X Dragon module supply run to the International Space Station went off without a hitch, sending around three tonnes of scientific experiments, food and other essentials to the orbiting station. However, arguably the bigger news was how well the first booster stage of the rocket …

Yesterday's intended launch of a supply mission to the International Space Station was scrapped due to a thunder storm straying too close to the launch pad, but there's more at stake here than food and supplies for the astronauts aboard the world's only persistent, manned space craft. Yesterday's launch was …