#echostar-23

Expendable Falcon 9 launches indispensable EchoStar 23

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket with the EchoStar 23 communications satellite soars out of Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. This was the first all-commercial flight from this historic pad. Photo Credit: SpaceX

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Lighting up the Florida night skies, an expendable SpaceX Falcon 9rocket soared toward space with the EchoStar 23 satellite after lifting off from historic…

Weather wins as SpaceX scrubs launch of Falcon 9 with EchoStar 23

In the hours before launch, light rain fell in the area around Kennedy Space Center. The Falcon 9 with EchoStar 23 was ultimately scrubbed 35 minutes before its planned March 14 launch due to high winds. Photo Credit: Michael Howard / SpaceFlight Insider

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX’s Falcon 9rocket remained firmly attached to the launch mount as the weather did not want to cooperate.…

EchoStar 23 set for launch atop SpaceX Falcon 9 at KSC

An artist’s illustration of EchoStar 23. Image Credit: Space Systems/Loral.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX is set to launch its second Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A. Liftoff is targeted for the beginning of a 2.5-hour long window that opens at 1:34 a.m. EDT (05:34 GMT) March 14, 2017. (more…)

Falcon 9 for Echostar 23 conducts static fire test

The Falcon 9 that will take EchoStar 23 into orbit conducts a static fire test at LC-39A. Photo Credit: SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — On March 9, 2017, SpaceX successfully conducted a static fire test of the Hawthorne, California-based company’s “Full Thrust” Falcon 9 rocket. This is the final milestone in advance of a planned launch set to take place Tuesday, March 14.  (more…)

EchoStar 23 launch postponed to NET March 14

An archive photo of the last Falcon 9 to fly without landing legs. That mission, TurkmenAlem52E, launched April 27, 2015, from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Photo Credit: Mike Howard / SpaceFlight Insider

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — SpaceX’s second Falcon 9 to fly out of Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) will likely lift off no earlier than March 14, 2017. This…

SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule to launch before EchoStar 23

SpaceX’s horizontal integration facility at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Photo Credit: Jared Haworth / SpaceFlight Insider

SpaceX has decided to switch the order of its next two Falcon 9 launches. The CRS-10 Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will now launch ahead of the EchoStar 23 satellite. (more…)

Next SpaceX launch may be one of the last expendable F9 boosters

A Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket attempts a landing on an Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship after the CRS-6 mission in 2015. Photo Credit: SpaceX

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — When SpaceX launches the EchoStar 23 satellite atop a Full Thrust Falcon 9 rocket, currently scheduled for Feb. 3, the company won’t attempt to land the booster’s first stage. The stage will consume too much fuel lifting the 12,125-pound…