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Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Explosives topple ULA launch complex towers to make room for SpaceX Starships at Cape Canaveral
Following a quick succession of orange-flamed explosions, United Launch Alliance's mobile service tower and high-reaching lightning towers toppled to the ground Thursday, June 11, at historic Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The demolition clears room for SpaceX to build new launch pads, landing pads and surrounding infrastructure for enormous Starship-Super Heavy rocket systems — which could start rumbling to flight from Launch Complex 37 as soon as next year. "Shout out to the @SLDelta45 and @SpaceX for the clean and precision demolition operation!!! Cheers to the future!" SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev said in a tweet. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral ULA previously launched Delta IV rockets from the complex. The 16th Delta IV Heavy triple-core rocket notched its final fiery liftoff in April 2024 on a National Reconnaissance Office mission, marking the last launch at the site. Now, SpaceX awaits key environmental and regulatory approvals from the U.S. Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration to start launching Starships from the complex. A 176-page Air Force draft environmental impact statement spells out proposed new infrastructure at LC-37: Two integration towers, each measuring about 600 feet tall. Two concrete launch pads about 400 feet long by 400 feet wide. Two concrete landing pads, each measuring about 225 feet in diameter, with two Super Heavy first-stage-booster catch towers. These will stack up similar in size to the integration towers. Flame trenches and diverters to reduce acoustic and thermal energy during launches and landings. Utilities, propellant tanks, staging and storage buildings, water storage and stormwater ponds, lighting and other improvements. In addition, SpaceX would widen about seven miles of Phillips Parkway. Roughly four miles of this stretch lie on the Space Force installation, while the other three are on NASA's adjacent Kennedy Space Center. Crews would also widen and improve about one mile of Old State Road A1A. ULA's lease of LC-37 expired after that April 2024 Delta IV Heavy launch, and infrastructure at the launch site was turned over to the Air Force, said Emre Kelly, Space Launch Delta 45 media operations chief. "The (Air Force) does not intend to make a future leasing decision on SLC-37 until the Starship Environmental Impact Statement is complete and Record of Decision has been published," Kelly said in an email. Launch Complex 37 construction wrapped up in August 1963, three months before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. Six Saturn I and two Saturn IB rockets launched there during the 1960s before NASA deactivated and mothballed the complex by November 1971, according to the Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum. After lying dormant for more than two decades, crews built new infrastructure at the complex and the first Delta IV launched in November 2002. 'I have great feelings of nostalgia for that pad. I was fortunate enough to capture several Delta Medium and Delta Heavy launches from that pad. The Delta rockets were just beautiful to photograph," Indialantic space photographer Michael Seeley said after capturing demolition video and images. "And so, watching it topple, I was reminded of that. And I'm reminded that, with change comes opportunity. I'm interested to see what comes next,' Seeley said. For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Another easy way: Click here to sign up for our weekly Space newsletter. Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: ULA rocket towers demolished at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
CNN
01-04-2025
- Science
- CNN
SpaceX to launch first-of-its kind tourism mission around Earth's poles
Update: Date: Title: Here's what to expect during this flight Content: SpaceX is set to launch its latest mission for paying customers — taking a cryptocurrency billionaire and three guests on a dayslong trip that will orbit directly above Earth's North and South poles — a feat never attempted before. Liftoff from Florida is expected during a 4.5-hour launch window that opens at 9:46 p.m. ET . Mission controllers will be keeping a close eye on the weather. 'While we're hopeful we could fly on Monday, (and) it is possible — if we'll need to wait a couple days on the pad, we're prepared to do that,' said Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch, during a virtual event on Friday. When liftoff does occur, here's what to expect: • SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will fly south from the company's launch facilities due East of Orlando — tracing a path that no human spaceflight mission has ever traveled. • The Fram2 crew's capsule will head over Cuba and Panama as the rocket fires the spacecraft to orbit. • A few minutes into flight, the first-stage booster of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will have spent most of its fuel. It will then detach from the crew capsule as well as the rocket's second, or upper, stage. • The Falcon 9 rocket booster will then head for landing on a seafaring barge. • The upper part of the rocket, still attached to the Crew Dragon capsule, will then fire up its own engine and begin propelling the crew to orbital speeds — typically more than 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour). • After reaching orbit, the crew is expected to spend three to five days in space before splashing down off the coast of California.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Fog-cloaked: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 Tuesday morning at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
(This story has been updated to include SpaceX's latest Tuesday evening launch target times.) The fog was so thick that the shrouded rocket was scarcely visible on SpaceX's own webcast. But a Falcon 9 lifted off in the predawn darkness Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, marking Florida's 11th orbital rocket launch thus far this year. SpaceX's Starlink 12-3 mission launched at 5:15 a.m. EST from Launch Complex 40 during a National Weather Service dense fog advisory — with meteorologists warning motorists that visibility could dip below ¼ mile until hours after sunrise. The Falcon 9 deployed 21 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, including 13 with direct-to-cell communications capabilities. Rumbling from the rising rocket reverberated for roughly 2½ minutes in Rockledge, Viera and nearby Space Coast communities, rattling homes amid unusual atmospheric conditions that thwarted launch photographers. Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Blue Origin, NASA rocket launch schedule in Florida Afterward, SpaceX continued targeting a Tuesday rocket launch doubleheader from the Cape. A second, 53-minute launch window was slated to open at 6:13 p.m. to launch a Falcon 9 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. That mission was set to deploy the third pair of Maxar Space Systems-built WorldView Legion high-resolution imagery satellites into orbit. Before the Starlink liftoff, SpaceX crews kept the general public guessing Tuesday morning by not publicly announcing that rocket fueling had begun. Instead, thick fog obscured views of Launch Complex 40 and telltale signs of rocket fueling, namely billowing white vapor and frost forming near the rocket's base. The first-stage booster from Tuesday's Starlink mission completed its 21st flight by touching down for landing atop the SpaceX drone ship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean. The booster previously launched OneWeb 1, SES 18+19, Eutelsat HOTBIRD-F1, CRS-24 and 16 Starlink missions. Last week, Scandinavian Airlines officials announced Starlink high-speed Wi-Fi internet service will roll out fleet-wide late this year, free of charge to all passengers. "Starlink will soon be available on all @SAS flights for passengers and crew, even while flying over the Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and North Pole," SpaceX Vice President of Launch Kiko Dontchev said in a tweet. For the latest news and launch schedule from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA's Kennedy Space Center, visit Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@ Twitter/X: @RickNeale1 Space is important to us and that's why we're working to bring you top coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: SpaceX launches Starlink 12-3 mission Tuesday at foggy Cape Canaveral
