The launch of the TESS satellite has been postponed until Wed. April 18th. The official reason was given as the need for additional time for instrument calibration. I also suspect that wind gusts in the area may have been cause for concern. It's been very gusty the last two days.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Thanks for the update Bob..

And TESS is on its way.

Cheers.

The first stage od Falcon 9 has landed on a barge in the Atlantic called "I still love you" theregister.co.uk says that Russia is ready to abandon its venerable Soyuz launcher since it cannot compete in price with Falcon 9.
Tullio.

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SpaceX Launches Its Newest Falcon 9 Rocket.

Launch was delayed at the last minute on Thursday. Details about why the first attempt was aborted were not immediately available.

This launch will carry into orbit the Bangabandhu Satellite-1, which will provide TV, internet and other telecom services to Bangladesh and the surrounding region.

After launch, SpaceX will attempt to guide the first-stage booster of the rocket back to Earth and land it safely on a platform in the ocean so it can be used again on a future mission.

Cheers.

Launch was a success, with the first stage landing on the barge called "Of course I still love you" in the Atlantic.
Tullio

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Bugger missed it.. :(

Sweet just watched the replay, love how relaxed Space-X launches is compared to NASA 's military approach..

They have competition from Orbital ATK. An Antares rocket will launch the Cygnus spacecraft carrying supplies to the ISS on May 20 from Wallops Island. The private sector of space is warming up.
Tullio

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The Orbital ATK Antares Cygnus launch to the ISS is now scheduled on May 21. On May 22 a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the GRACE-FO Earth Observing satellite and 5 Iridium communication satellites. All will be covered on NASA TV.
Tullio

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The Cygnus mission has been launched to the ISS. It carries several scientific instruments, including a Cold Atom Lab which is meant to become the coldest laboratory for atomic and nuclear physics.
Tullio

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A Falcon9 rocket has launched the GRACE-FO mission and 5 Iridium communication sate;;ite. There was no first stage landing or other part recovery programs, the fuel is not sufficient given the number of objects to be put in different orbits. The GRACE-FO orbits are almost polar, since the launch was from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the Western coast and not from Florida. The GRACE-FO satellites are healthy and the telemetry is nominal. The results of the preceding GRACE mission from 2002 to 2017 were just published in "Nature". GRACE is an acronym for GRAvity Climate Experiment.
Tullio

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Cheers tullio, I watched the launch around 5:30 am Adelaide time..

The launch flames have started a grass fire which melted one of the six cameras placed around the launch pad. But the memory card was recovered and shows the advancing flames.
Tullio

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Falcon9 launches the CRS-15 mission to the ISS including an AI module.

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And yet another perfect launch..

To all of us who missed the launch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycMagB1s8XM
It's called the Dragon.
Yes. It behave very much like a Dragon:)

It was a test launch and needed the weight, rather than concrete he used a car..
Launching satellites that cost millions of dollars a piece on a test flight would have been silly had it exploded or crashed..

And Elon needed a new car anyway. ;-)

Cheers.

Being the first flight of a new launcher nobody would want too put their multi-million dollar satellite at more risk than a "normal" launch", insured or not. Also it is highly probably that no insurer would offer the cover. And as has been said, first launches are normally ballasted with non-toxic dense materials like concrete or metal blocks.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?