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SpaceX to launch Dragon XL cargo capsule for NASA’s Lunar Gateway

By |2020-04-02T22:59:27-04:00March 31st, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , |

Since 2012, Elon Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. otherwise known as SpaceX, has been providing cargo delivery services for NASA as part of their Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts to the International Space Station after the end of the Space Shuttle era.  However, the bar has been raised and SpaceX is now contracted to fly similar missions with critical pressurized & unpressurized cargo to NASA's planned lunar orbiting space station called Gateway under their new Gateway Logistics Services (GLS) contract.

SpaceX loses Crew Dragon mockup capsule during parachute test

By |2020-04-02T23:00:39-04:00March 24th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , |

SpaceX announced that one of their final preparation tests with their Crew Dragon capsule's parachute systems did not go as planned. The company and their test operators were forced to drop their Crew Dragon mockup capsule early during the test to protect the safety of the helicopter crew.

SpaceX loses an engine during otherwise successful Starlink launch, fails to recover booster

By |2020-04-23T16:32:27-04:00March 18th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

SpaceX successfully launched another set of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, but suffered an in-flight engine failure during the late stages of the 1st stage booster flight & subsequently failed to land their 1st stage booster on their droneship.

SpaceX Falcon 9 aborted fractions of a second before Starlink launch

By |2020-04-02T23:02:30-04:00March 15th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , |

SpaceX aborted the launch of their Falcon 9 rocket carrying their next batch of Starlink satellites just fractions of a second prior to the scheduled liftoff time.

SpaceX CRS-20 Dragon capsule arrives to the International Space Station

By |2020-04-04T08:53:54-04:00March 9th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , |

After a beautiful and successful late night launch on Friday, the SpaceX Dragon 1 cargo capsule arrived to the International Space Station on Monday, March 9, 2020 after performing on orbit maneuvers to catch up to the station over the course of two days.

SpaceX CRS-20 launches final Dragon v1 to the Space Station

By |2020-04-04T08:50:10-04:00March 6th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

SpaceX launched their Dragon 1 cargo capsule full of supplies and bound for the International Space Station for the final time on March 6, 2020 at approximately 11:50pm EST from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as part of their CRS-20 mission supporting NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Phase 1 contract.

SpaceX is planning historic SAOCOM-1B satellite launch

By |2020-04-04T08:49:53-04:00February 27th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

As early as March 2020, SpaceX is planning to launch SAOCOM-1B on one of their Falcon 9 rockets while doing something that nobody has done in over 50 years!

SpaceX Launches their 4th batch of operational Starlink satellites

By |2020-03-21T15:30:01-04:00February 18th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , |

SpaceX successfully launched another set of 60 of their version 1.0 operational Starlink Satellites into low earth orbit on Monday, February 17, 2020 at 10:05am EST (15:05 UTC). The primary mission appears to have been another major success for SpaceX's Starlink program, however, their secondary experimental recovery missions suffered some unfortunate failures for both the Falcon 9's first stage booster landing attempt at sea on their autonomous spaceport droneship, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY); as well as for their attempts to recover both halves of their protective payload fairings which they attempted to gently land under parachute at sea, aboard their support vessels GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief.

SpaceX’s third operational Starlink mission successful

By |2020-03-21T15:31:25-04:00January 29th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , |

SpaceX launched another set of 60 version 1.0 operational Starlink Satellites into low earth orbit on January 29, 2020 at 9:06am EST (14:06 UTC). The first stage booster for this mission previously supported and launched their first Crew Dragon demonstration flight, DM-1, into orbit along with the RADARSAT mission in June 2019. The first stage booster was successfully recovered 630 kilometers downrange on their autonomous spaceport droneship, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY).

What to expect for the SpaceX In-Flight Abort Test

By |2020-03-21T15:33:41-04:00January 16th, 2020|Categories: Space Education|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

SpaceX is ready for a major demonstration with their Crew Dragon In-Flight Abort Test, a major milestone before SpaceX begins flying astronauts.

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