SpaceX’s latest rocket may have launched successfully – but the mission didn’t end as a win. The Zuma payload it was carrying, a mysterious classified piece of cargo for the U.S. government believed to be a spy satellite, was lost after it failed to separate from the second stage of the rocket after the first stage of the Falcon 9 separated as planned and returned to Earth.… Read More
Category: space tourism
SpaceX successfully launches top-secret Zuma spacecraft
SpaceX has successfully launched its first mission of 2018, after capping a record year last year in 2017 with 18 total launches. The first launch this year carried a special payload – Zuma, a secretive spacecraft commissioned by the U.S. government for an undisclosed mission. SpaceX launched Zuma from its SLC-40 launch facility at Cape Canaveral in Florida, which was used instead of… Read More
Watch SpaceX launch the mysterious Zuma spacecraft live here
SpaceX will attempt its first launch of 2018 later today, with a two-hour launch window opening at 8 PM EST (5 PM PST), with a backup launch window set for tomorrow at the same time. The launch was originally planned for late last year, but was pushed due to SpaceX wanted to review data related to fairing used in the launch.
The payload for the launch is the ‘Zuma’ spacecraft, a… Read More
SpaceX targets January 5 launch for mystery Zuma payload
SpaceX is launching Zuma, a mystery spacecraft operated by the U.S. government for purposes unknown, thanks to it being very classified. The launch was supposed to take place last year, with a November date for the flight, but it was scrubbed, reset and then scrubbed again with no firm timeline for a follow up attempt. Zuma is now set to take off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral tentatively… Read More
SpaceX shows off its Falcon Heavy rocket vertical on the launchpad
SpaceX is getting ready for its first ever test flight of the Falcon Heavy, it’s heavy-duty rocket aimed at propelling large cargo loads into low Earth orbit. The rocket uses three Falcon 9 boosters combined for maximum load capacity when leaving Earth’s atmosphere, and it’s looking to do its first test launch within the next few weeks from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The… Read More
SpaceX caps a record year with 18th successful launch of 2017
SpaceX has completed its 18th launch in 2017, marking a record year for the private space company. It’s the most rockets SpaceX has launched in a single year, beating its previous best by ten missions. The launch today was for client Iridium, delivering 10 satellites to low Earth orbit for its Iridium NEXT communications constellation. This is the fourth such mission that SpaceX has… Read More
Elon Musk really will launch a Tesla Roadster on the first Falcon Heavy rocket
Elon Musk shared images on his Instagram account today of the payload being loaded up on the first Falcon Heavy rocket that will ever launch – and it’s a red Tesla Roadster. The SpaceX CEO previously said that he’d be launching exactly that on the spaceship, but then suggested he was joking – before the whole thing was confirmed again by SpaceX, and now made really… Read More
Watch SpaceX’s last Falcon 9 rocket launch for 2017
SpaceX is launching its last mission of 2017 later today, with a planned launch window of 5:27 PM PST (8:27 PM EST). The mission is for client Iridium, and will send a fourth set of 10 satellites into low Earth orbit for Iridium’s NEXT constellation, which will eventually consist of 75 satellites launched by SpaceX in total.
SpaceX is launching the Falcon 9 for Iridium-4 from… Read More
SpaceX launches a reused Dragon atop a reused Falcon 9 for the first time
SpaceX has moved one step closer to its dream of affordable, efficient reusable space flight: Today for its CRS-13 resupply mission for the International Space Station it managed to launch a previously-flown Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket with a flight-proven first stage booster. That’s the first time it’s flown both types of reused equipment at the same time. The… Read More
Blue Origin flies its Crew Capsule 2.0 for the first time
Jef Bezos’ space company Blue Origin recorded a new milestone today – an inaugural flight for Crew Capsule 2.0, the latest version of the vehicle it’s creating to bring astronauts into space for its first passenger flights. The Crew Capsule 2.0 craft flew atop a New Shepard reusable booster, traveling up to an altitude of over 322,000 feet. The New Shepard rocket, which… Read More
SpaceX adds $100 million to previous $350 million funding round
SpaceX filed a new amended update to its $351 million funding round from this summer, adding around $100 million to the round in newly disclosed funds and bringing the total to $450 million. The new follow-on funding puts SpaceX’s total post-money valuation at $21.5 billion. SpaceX spokesperson James Gleeson provided the following statement regarding the amended filing: “This… Read More
SpaceX Merlin rocket engine explodes during testing at Texas facility
SpaceX suffered an explosion of one of its Falcon 9 rocket engines during qualification testing at its facility in McGregor, Texas, per The Verge. The failure resulting in the explosion occurred on Sunday, and the company is now underway with inv…
View More SpaceX Merlin rocket engine explodes during testing at Texas facility