SpaceX

Aireon Launch Begins New Era for Satellite-Based Aircraft Surveillance

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday placed the first 10 Iridium Next satellites into low-Earth orbit, each with an Aerion cargo package carrying an ADS-B receiver. The launch represents the first successful effort in space to create Aireon’s global ADS-B-based aircraft-tracking system expected to be operational by the […]

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SpaceX Readies for First Launch Since Falcon 9 Explosion

Update: High winds and rain at Vandenberg Air Force Base caused SpaceX to cancel Monday’s mission, according to Iridium. The launch is now scheduled for January 14 at 9:54 a.m. PST. After completing its investigation into the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket in September, it appears SpaceX is ready to resume launches. The private […]

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Iridium Hopeful SpaceX Launches Will Resume Soon

Iridium isn’t sure when SpaceX will be ready to launch the company’s Iridium Next satellites following the explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket on September 1 in Florida, but the company is moving swiftly forward to offer business aviation new airborne hardware that will enable subscribers to take advantage of the new constellation’s faster data […]

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SpaceX Falcon 9 Destroyed in Blast

An explosion at SpaceX’s launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Thursday morning sparked a social media storm when the blast sent clouds of smoke billowing into the sky and shook buildings several miles away. The Falcon 9 rocket, set for liftoff this Saturday, and its payload were destroyed in the incident. SpaceX pad on fire!! […]

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Video: SpaceX Falcon 9 First-Stage Precision Landing

Here is your chance to take a closer look at the Falcon 9 first-stage landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean last week. This video shows the impressive touchdown of the first-stage section of the rocket from three different angles, highlighting the accuracy of the spacecraft. Falcon 9’s mission was to fly to space […]

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SpaceX Gets First GPS Launch Contract

SpaceX has won its first military contract — $82.7 million to send a U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System satellite into space — breaking a long-held Boeing-Lockheed monopoly on military space launches. The aerospace company, founded by CEO Elon Musk, will launch the Air Force’s next generation GPS satellite in May 2018. The contract reintroduces […]

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SpaceX Rocket Makes Historic Landing

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made history Monday night by being the first to launch a rocket into space and bring it back down for a perfect landing, a feat that allows the rocket to be used again and again. The Falcon 9 rocket blasted off at 8:35 p.m., deploying 11 OrbComm satellites into low-Earth orbit before […]

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SpaceX Falcon 9 Explodes After Liftoff

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exploded shortly after takeoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Sunday. While the Dragon spacecraft that was attached to Falcon 9 was only carrying cargo for delivery to the International Space Station, there is a Crew Dragon designed to bring astronauts into space. SpaceX is planning […]

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Air Force Certifies SpaceX as Space Launch Provider

After a two year, $60 million certification effort, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) has become the second provider currently capable of launching space vehicles for the Air Force under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. This allows the Hawthorne, California-based company to bid on national security space-launch missions using its Falcon 9 Launch System. […]

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Video: SpaceX Grasshopper Makes Lateral Leap

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX completed an impressive precision flight on Tuesday with the Falcon 9 rocket, also called the Grasshopper. In what SpaceX referred to as a divert test, the rocket climbed to an altitude of about 800 feet, then moved about 300 feet laterally before making a picture perfect landing at the center of its […]

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Pilot in aircraft
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