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SpaceX has delayed the launch of its latest Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket – tasked with lofting the ASIASAT-6 satellite into orbit – for at least several days. The call was made by CEO Elon Musk shortly after the rocket had been erected at her Space Launch Complex -40 (SLC-40) pad, with the rationale based on giving the team more time to evaluate the health of the launch vehicle. Falcon 9 Delay: No specific reasons have been provided as to why the call was made, although engineers had been working on a helium leak throughout the past 24 hours or so,...

No injuries are reported after a SpaceX rocket prototype detonated in Texas today (Aug. 22) after an anomaly was found in the rocket, the company said in a statement. The Falcon 9 Reusable (F9R) — a successor to the Grasshopper vertical take-off and landing rocket — was completing the latest in a series of ambitious tests that previously saw the prototype successfully testing new steerable fins. “Today’s test was particularly complex, pushing the limits of the vehicle further than any previous test,” SpaceX said in a statement (which you can read in full below the jump.) “As is our practice,...

Falcon 9 First Stage Reentry Footage from Plane Following the successful launch of six ORBCOMM satellites, the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage reentered Earth’s atmosphere and soft landed in the Atlantic Ocean. This footage is from a chase plane filming the decent of the first stage back to earth. Towards the end of the video, the camera operator attempted to zoom in and unfortunately lost sight of the stage and was unable to capture the tip over into the water.

In July 2014, the private space company's Falcon 9 rocket launched six ORBCOMM OG2 satellites. It also tested its reusable first stage technology. A chase plane was on hand to capture some of its fall through the atmosphere and the last few seconds before splashdown.

Russia builds all of the rocket engines that deliver U.S. military satellites into space. Gen. William Shelton, U.S. Space Command, said Tuesday the recent missile attack on Malaysian passenger jet that killed 298 people will not result any change to this (crony driven, United Launch Alliance) RD-180 engine arrangement. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., SpaceX, has sued the Air Force for the oppertunity to compete, for contracts that provide lift to military and intel satellite. Right now, only ULA is allowed to "compete" for the $9 billion Engine project. //Snip// Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Rogozin threatened in May to cut...

Hey, remember Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the guy who threw needless layers of bureaucracy at SpaceX because the private space company was doing its job of launching rockets into space a little too well? Well, it looks like he’s being joined by gentlemen from the other side of the Capitol: Three congressmen are trying to do the same thing.

A Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral early Tuesday, continuing a jam-packed sequences of launches by SpaceX for commercial and government customers after a slow start to the year. The 22-story rocket will loft the AsiaSat 8 communications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, a drop-off point for most large telecom payloads heading for operating posts 22,300 miles over the equator. Liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad is set for 1:25 a.m. EDT (0525 GMT). The launch window extends until 4:11 a.m. EDT (0811 GMT). Forecasters predict generally favorable weather, with a 30 percent chance...

Texas is offering more than $15 million in incentives to bring SpaceX's commercial rocket launch facility and 300 jobs to the Brownsville area. Gov. Rick Perry announced the incentive package Monday for the project that is expected to bring $85 million in capital investment to the state. "Texas has been on the forefront of our nation's space exploration efforts for decades so it is fitting that SpaceX has chosen our state as they expand the frontiers of commercial space flight," Perry said in a statement. "In addition to growing the aerospace industry in Texas, SpaceX's facility will provide myriad opportunities...

SpaceX released video today of another successful soft landing of its Falcon 9 rocket, this time in the Atlantic Ocean. The test confirms that the Falcon 9 booster is able to consistently reenter from space at hypersonic velocity, restart main engines twice, deploy landing legs and touch down at near zero velocity. After landing, the vehicle tipped sideways as planned to its final water safing state in a nearly horizontal position. The water impact caused loss of hull integrity, but SpaceX received all the necessary data to achieve a successful landing on a future flight. The company says it is...

Lawmakers and top military officials on Wednesday expressed fears that friction with Russia could someday leave the United States without the power to launch rockets into space. Reliance on a single Russian engine to launch many critical military satellites could come back to haunt the U.S., officials said, if tensions between the two nations continue to rise. “If you consider space a national security priority, then you absolutely have to consider assured access to space a national security priority,” Gen. William Shelton, commander of the Air Force’s space command, testified in a joint Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. “Given that...

Rocket: Falcon 9 v1.1 Payload: Orbcomm OG2 F1 (6 satellites) Launch date: Sunday, June 22, 2014 Launch time: 5:24 p.m. EDT/2:24 p.m. PDT (2124 GMT) Launch window: 54 minutes Site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral, Florida Live launch coverage: At the link or watch it here http://www.spacex.com/webcast/ Delayed (from September, November, April 30, May 10, 27, June 11, 12, 15, and June 20, 21) several times by SpaceX due to a first stage helium leak and Orbcomm due to a potential defect in one of their satellites. On June 20th a launch attempt was scrubbed due to a fluctuation in pressure readings...

A private space exploration company's plans to build a novel moonship to return human explorers to the lunar surface has moved one step closer to reality. Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman has completed a lunar lander feasiblity study for the Golden Spike Company, which aims to begin ferrying paying customers to the moon and back by 2020. Click to enlarge:

Striving to be ready for an onslaught of launches under contract over the next few years, SpaceX plans to double the launcher production rate in its Southern California factory before the end of the year without compromising its commitments to develop a human-rated commercial spaceship, demonstrate rocket reusability, and further cut the cost of space transportation. "We need to meet our cadence of launch," said Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, at a discussion Wednesday at the Atlantic Council in Washington. "It's about one a month this year, and it's almost two a month next year." While SpaceX tries to manage...

Recs 17   Back to Yahoo! Elon Musk Makes 3-D Printing History By Steve Heller | More Articles | Save For Later June 2, 2014 | Comments (6)   SpaceX Dragon V2. Source: SpaceX.Wearing his hat as CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk unveiled the future of space transport with the Dragon V2 spacecraft on Friday. Unlike Dragon V1, which was designed to carry cargo loads to and from the International Space Station, Dragon V2 will be able to transport up to seven humans to and from the ISS, and its robust thermal protection system makes the spacecraft capable of...

Explanation: The space station has caught a dragon. Specifically, in mid-April, the International Space Station captured the unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule sent to resupply the orbiting outpost. Pictured above, the station's Canadarm2 had just grabbed the commercial spaceship. The Dragon capsule was filled with over 5000 lbs (2260 kilos) of supplies and experiments to be used by the current band of six ISS astronauts that compose Expedition 39, as well as the six astronauts that compose Expedition 40. After docking with the ISS, the Dragon capsule was unloaded and eventually released, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on May 18....

NASA has been talking about sending people to Mars by 2035. That goal is still on the books, despite recent upheaval in the space program, according to two of the agency's top scientists. "In the near term, Mars remains our primary focus," Ellen Stofan, NASA's chief scientist said May 15 in a talk at the Royal Institution in London ... ....scientists [also] decided to "redirect" an asteroid into an orbit of the moon and are searching for an asteroid that's an appropriate candidate. "Once we find the right one, we'll use all the technology we've got," he said. "We'll snag...

Elon Musk is revealing the new design of the hopefully soon to be man-rated Dragon capsule. This is an important step forward for the company, and for American space travel. Innovations include: It is fully reusable, much like the grasshopper first stage, and will land on land. A Dragon 2 capsule launched from a grasshopper first stage will be an order of magnitude cheaper than any other current spacecraft. Nice safety features. While it is designed to land under rocket power, it can land via parachute like the Apollo era and current dragon capsules if the engines fail. The Dragon...

SpaceX, which has flown unmanned cargo capsules to the International Space Station, planned to unveil a new spacecraft Thursday designed to ferry astronauts to low-Earth orbit. The Southern California-based rocket builder, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, is one of several private companies vying to develop “space taxis” for NASA to replace the retired space shuttle fleet. …

SpaceX will be unveiling their manned version of the SpaceX Dragon tonight. The Dragon V2 has been designed to transport live human cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS), making it the second craft to taxi men and women to the station since the retirement of NASA's shuttle program in 2011. The Dragon Version 2 (V2) is a manned rendition of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsules, which have been delivering supplies to the ISS since 2012. According to reports, the third unmanned Dragon cargo flight launched in April and returned to Earth earlier this month as part of...

Elon Musk isn’t afraid to shake things up, and he did so again with accusations that US defense contracts awarded to a competitor were the product of corruption. SpaceX, Musk’s orbital transport firm, has been competing for a major contract to put US Air Force satellites in orbit. With a dearth of private investment in space and the end of the US space shuttle program, SpaceX has quickly leapt to the fore of aerospace firms with the help of contracts from NASA to provide re-supply missions to the International Space Station and develop a manned spacecraft to fly astronauts there....