SpaceX successfully launched its first "block 5" Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a satellite for Bangladesh. Then the rocket's first stage made a safe landing on an offshore droneship -- the 25th such recovery for SpaceX so far.
It was the fifth set of 10 satellites that SpaceX has launched for Iridium, whose $3 billion projects is expected to include a total of 81 satellites – with 75 launched by SpaceX.
China plans to create new classes of heavy rockets in future, these include the Long March 9 rocket, a three-stage, super-heavy rocket that would allow for crewed missions to the Moon.
According to a recent interview Musk made at the 2018 SXSW conference, the Big Falcon Rocket will be ready to conduct test launches in the next two years.
In 2011, Stratolaunch Systems was founded with a simple goal: to reduce the costs of rocket launches by creating the world’s largest air-launch-to-orbit system. Recently, their aircraft reached a major milestone.
SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy; Elon Musk's Tesla is enroute Mars' orbit.
If successful, Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful working rocket in use, the rocket that could go to Mars.
Friday's launch went off without a hitch, with the Falcon 9 booster sending a Dragon spacecraft into a good orbit to reach the ISS. This marks the company's 20th successful landing overall.
It’s called the Dream Chaser, a reusable spaceplane that will one day transport cargo and crews to the International Space Station.
This is the first of two launches for this week, the first being a ten satellite payload for the new Iridium NEXT constellation and the second is for the SES-11/EchoStar 105 satellite.
The Falcon Heavy—which it’s touting as “the world’s most powerful rocket”—will be able to lift over 54 metric tons into orbit. It has three first-stage boosters that will be entirely reusable.
This particular SpaceX launch made history in another way: by carrying a Chinese science experiment to the station for the first time.
Experts see a time in the not-so-distant future when spaceflights could cost $10,000-$20,000.
Elon Musk said last week he is “fairly confident” his company’s Falcon rockets can be made fully reusable within a couple of years.
The world’s first recycled booster - namely a SpaceX Falcon 9 - sailed into Port Canaveral yesterday atop the tiny droneship on which it soft landed shortly after launching on March 30 for an unprecedented second time.
