SpaceX would recover the upper-stage of their Falcon Heavy laucnher

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Elon Musk suggested Friday that when SpaceX does its first demonstration flight of the Falcon Heavy large payload rocket later this year, it might also include an attempt to return the upper stage back to Earth. Ultimately, the goal is to make sure the upper stage on the Falcon Heavy is reusable, which is part of SpaceX’s plan to make Mars a viable target for repeat, return commercial spaceflight.

The Falcon Heavy test, which has been scheduled for some time now, is set for “late summer,” according to Musk. This is in keeping with the new 2017 timing, adjusted from late last year following delays resulting from SpaceX’s pre-flight launch pad explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket last September.

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is a heavy-lift rocket that would open up a whole new group of potential customers for the private launch provider. Falcon Heavy consists of three Falcon 9 cores at its center, which are made up of 27 Merlin engines, with a projected output of 5 million pounds of thrust. NASA is also preparing its own heavy launcher, the Space Launch System or SLS, with a target launch date of 2018.

Falcon Heavy will have a max cargo capacity of 119,000 pounds in terms of what it can carry to orbit, which is double the payload capacity of the current leader in operational launch craft, the Delta IV Heavy from ULA. It’ll have less capacity for actual mission launches, however, and capacity also goes down if the intent is to reuse the rocket, rather than expend it entirely in a single mission. SpaceX’s goal is to undercut both the SLS projected cost and the Delta IV Heavy actual launch bill by pricing launches at one-third the amount ULA charges.

SpaceX has successfully recovered its Falcon 9 rockets, which make up the first stage of the Falcon Heavy, on a number of occasions now, and on Thursday re-launched one of those recovered rockets for the first time ever. Now, it sounds like Musk is preparing to begin the process of successfully bringing a second stage back to earth, which in the Falcon Heavy includes a single Merlin 1D engine designed for use in a vacuum.

Recovery and reuse of both of these stages are essential to SpaceX’s Mars plan, as it eventually hopes to shuttle many tons of cargo from Earth to orbit, where they’ll be loaded on a craft destined for Mars supply missions.

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SpaceX is considering sabotage as cause of Falcon 9 explosion

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As SpaceX’s investigation of a Falcon 9 rocket explosion on September 1st drags into its second month, rumors are flying that this may have been more than a random technical failure. According to a Washington Postreport, SpaceX is considering the possibility of sabotage.

In a Holmesian twist to the investigation of the sudden fireball that eviscerated a Falcon 9 rocket, a $95 million internet satellite, and a chunk of Cape Canaveral’s launch pad 40, a SpaceX employee recently requested rooftop access to a building owned by competing rocket consortium United Launch Alliance. As industry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post, SpaceX was following up on “something suspicious” it had seen while reviewing video footage of the rocket explosion—a weird shadow and a white spot on the roof of the ULA building, which sits about a mile from the launch pad.

According to the Washington Post’s unnamed experts, SpaceX was denied access to the rooftop, which was instead investigated by Air Force officials who found no evidence of a connection to the September 1st explosion. 

SpaceX’s official line—that it’s simply trying to leave no stone unturned—may well be true. But that hasn’t stopped the internet from offering up its own conspiracy theories, including that maybe a guy with a rifle shot the rocket from a mile away. (After all, Musk did say his company is trying to figure out the source of a “quieter bang sound” a few seconds before the fireball!)

Then again, as Elon Musk noted during his Martian colonization speechlast week, SpaceX has already investigated all obvious possibilities. “What remains are the less probable answers,” he said.

A ULA spokesperson responded to Gizmodo’s request for comment in an email, stating that “ULA cooperated with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing, and nothing associated with the SpaceX accident was found.”

Source: Fortune

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SpaceX plans to launch reused Falcon 9 this fall

Dear readers and followers,

Elon Musk the CEO of Space X tweeted announced this week by a tweet that the company was planning the first reflight of a recovered first stage in September or October.

That date is slightly later than what he mentioned at a conference last week, where he said that flight was planned to take place in two or three months. The company has not disclosed who would be the customer of that launch.

As you know Space X succeeded many time to bring back the first stage the Falcon 9 space launcher. Before this successes, Space X changed its approach, and the SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.

it is super hard to land a rocket on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Elon Musk has had to learn that the hard way, and now, you too can experience the crushing disappointment of trying to land the SpaceX Falcon 9 lander, thanks to a new internet game (completely unaffiliated with SpaceX)

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Do you think that you can land the Space X Falcon lander ? Go ahead !

Dear reader and followers,

it is super hard to land a rocket on a platform in the middle of an ocean. Elon Musk has had to learn that the hard way, and now, you too can experience the crushing disappointment of trying to land the SpaceX Falcon 9 lander, thanks to a new internet game (completely unaffiliated with SpaceX). The game is simple; choose a level with your space bar, and use the arrow keys to gently guide the rocket onto the tiny floating platform before you run out of fuel. Or hit the ocean. Or hit the platform and explode violently. You could also succeed, but only if you are a secret genius/wizard.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Lander is a fun twist on the classic Lunar Lander game that has you trying to perfectly balance thrust, rotation, descent, and your remaining fuel to safely land a rocket ship back on a floating platform.

Playing it is slightly less stressful than trying to land the real Falcon 9 since you’re not out millions of dollars every time you crash–but only just. If you’re looking for a way to relax and kill some time this afternoon, this isn’t it. But if you want to feel as frustrated as Elon Musk does, definitely give it a shot. 

Due to the hardness to land in the middle of the ocean, Space X change its approach, next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.

Play the game here. Good luck!

Space X plans to land these rockets at Cape Canaveral instead of on an ocean platform

Dear readers and followers,

Next time a SpaceX rocket touches down, it will be on solid ground. Actually, After its next launch, SpaceX hopes to fly a Falcon 9 booster back to a landing site on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, making its first attempt to bring a booster down on land rather than on a platform in the ocean.

SpaceX has attempted to land a rocket gently before, but those attempts were made on giant floating platforms in the ocean (which just missed). Then, last week, competitor Blue Origin managed to land it's own reusable rocket safely on the ground, amping up the public pressure on SpaceX to successfully land their own rocket.

Since one of their rockets exploded in June, SpaceX has been grounded as they troubleshoot. The company is also upgrading their rockets with new engines that can carry heavier loads.

SpaceX's next launch could happen in the coming week, as early as December 15th 2016, but that remains unconfirmed.

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SpaceX just released some gorgeous 4K rocket launch footage

Dear readers and followers,

As if watching rockets going to space wasn't already awesome, +SpaceX  just released a two-minute supercut of 4K footage of its Falcon 9 rocket launches. It's got some slow-motion footage, some HDR-style footage, and lots of different angles of a vehicle that is capable of producing a million pounds of thrust. All of it is beautiful, even if it's accompanied by an unnecessarily loud techno track that covers up the thrilling sound of a rocket taking off.

  Credit video: +SpaceX

Coincidentally, SpaceX has another Falcon 9 launch scheduled for today. After the rocket helps deliver cargo to the +International Space Station, the company will once again attempt to land its reusable Falcon 9 on an autonomous drone ship at sea; something it has unsuccessfully tried twice. No pressure. 

Credit image: +SpaceX 

SpaceX intends to build a vertical launch area and control center to support 12 commercial launches per year.

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SpaceX will get its own space launch site

Dear reader and followers,

Monday morning, the September 22th, SpaceX broke ground at the site near Boca Chica beach in Cameron County, Texas, where it plans to build a commercial rocket launch pad. As SpaceX founder Elon Musk lifted a shovel of dirt, his ultimate goal of developing technology to enable trips to Mars took a step forward. “This feels great. It feels like the future,” Musk said. Governor Rick Perry and other dignitaries were also at this event. "This announcement represents a huge step forward for our state and continues our nation's proud legacy of scientific advancement," Perry said. "It builds upon our pioneer heritage, our tradition of thinking bigger, dreaming bolder, and daring to do the impossible. SpaceX is the latest in a long line of forward-thinking companies that have made Texas home, and I couldn't be prouder to help break ground on this revolutionary new facility." The Boca Chica site will be the world’s first commercial orbital space port.

Musk said he wants the company’s new commercial orbital rocket launch site to be operational as soon as possible. That means the paved launch site near the end of U.S. Highway 4 at Boca Chica should be complete in about nine months, with the first rocket launch taking place as early as late 2016. The rocket launch site will be located about three miles north of the Mexican border and about five miles south of Port Isabel and South Padre Island.

SpaceX intends to build a vertical launch area and control center to support 12 commercial launches per year. The vehicles launched include the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and smaller reusable, suborbital launch vehicles. Musk revealed that he expects “thousands of launches.” Furthermore, “when we start doing commercial crew activities, I would expect us to launch a crew from here,” he said. Moreover, he added "What’s important is to have a truly commercial launch site, just like we have commercial airports. Every sort of structure has its primary focus and I think it’s important that the world have a truly commercial orbital spaceport,”.

Rep. Filemon Vela, who introduced Musk and Perry, predicted that the “benefit from an educational and economic standpoint that SpaceX will bring to this region is something that many of us never dreamed of.” In addition, Perry said that “Over the course of the last 13, almost 14 years, we have looked for major projects of which we can make a really big impact on South Texas,” “I noticed the sign behind me that says ‘pavement ends in 1,000 feet.’ But the future of South Texas takes off right behind me. And that’s what today’s really all about.”

Perry also announced an investment of $9 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and The University of Texas System to establish STARGATE to develop and support commercial phased-array technology for satellite and space vehicle communication. The city of Brownsville, through the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation will contribute $500,000 to the project.

Monday's groundbreaking is the result of years of cooperation between Texas and SpaceX. The idea for a commercial spaceport in Texas was first discussed on a TexasOne trip to California in 2011. Since then, Gov. Perry has met with Elon Musk and written letters to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help secure clearance for the facility. Also, several members of the Governor's staff have appeared in front of the FAA to help bring the facility to Texas.

Source: Space X


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First commercial satellite launched by the SpaceX rocket

  Credits: Spacevids.tv