SpX CRS-8
Falcon 9 Full Thrust
SpaceX
Mission
SpX CRS-8
Type: Resupply
SpaceX launched the Dragon spacecraft on their eighth operational cargo delivery mission to the International Space Station. Among the cargo was the Bigelow Aerospace’s BEAM module, which was attached to the station and will stay so for 2 years. BEAM is an expandable habitat module that will undergo tests to determine its worthiness during the stay. The flight was conducted under the Commercial Resupply Services contract with NASA.
Location
Space Launch Complex 40
Cape Canaveral, FL, USA
847 rockets have launched from Cape Canaveral, FL, USA.
Rocket
Falcon 9 Full Thrust – SpaceX
Family: Falcon
Length: 71 m
Diameter: 3.65 m
Launch Mass: 546 T
Low Earth Orbit Capacity: 22800 kg
The Falcon 9 Full Thrust was manufactured by SpaceX with the first launch on 2015-12-22. Falcon 9 Full Thrust has 24 successful launches and 1 failed launches with a total of 25 launches. The Full Thrust variants first stage includes all systems necessary for an operational re-use of stages while the second stage is operated as an expendable rocket stage.
Landing
The first stage of the Falcon 9 landed on the ASDS, OCISLY stationed off of the East Coast. Marking the first successful barge landing!
Of Course I Still Love You – OCISLY
The second ASDS barge, Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY) services launches in the Pacific Ocean and was the site of the first landing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 first stage during CRS-8, the launch of a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship – ASDS
An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow for recovery of rocket first-stages at sea for high-velocity missions which do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after lofting spacecraft onto an orbital trajectory.
Agency
SpaceX
Type: Commercial
Abbreviation: SpX
Administration: CEO: Elon Musk
Founded: 2002
Launchers: Falcon
Spacecraft: Dragon
Country: USA
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.
