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Gallery|Space

Blast off: SpaceX heads to the International Space Station

Rocket launches overlooking the Atlantic Ocean are becoming increasingly common, sometimes with more than one in a week.

A SpaceX mission of a Falcon 9 rocket carrries satellites aboard Starlink 12. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
Published On 15 Nov 202015 Nov 2020
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SpaceX launched four astronauts on a flight to the International Space Station on Sunday, NASA’s first full-fledged mission sending a crew into orbit aboard a privately-owned spacecraft.

SpaceX is scheduled to fly seven Dragon missions to the space station over the next 14 months, three manned, and four cargo, as the US government space agency NASA increasingly turns to commercial cooperation as it expands space exploration, including programmes to explore the moon and Mars.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine called the Cape Canaveral facility in the southernmost US state Florida “a multi-user space port” that services not only SpaceX but also the United Launch Alliance, a consortium of companies that operates a number of rockets that launch satellites and other spacecraft into Earth’s orbit and beyond.

Even with coronavirus pandemic precautions in place, 2020 has been the busiest summer for Cape Canaveral since the heyday of the Space Shuttle programmes in the 1980s and the Apollo programme that began in 1961 and concluded in 1972.

Rocket launches from the launchpads that overlook the Atlantic Ocean are becoming increasingly common, sometimes with more than one in a week, and coming at all times of the day, depending on the optimal time to deploy a payload, to meet up with the International Space Station or to accommodate or avoid weather.

That can make launches even of the same model of rockets look distinct depending on whether it’s a clear day or a night launch.

Crew members of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket commander Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, gesture as they depart for the launch pad for the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. [Joe Skipper/Reuters]
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule, is launched carrying four astronauts on the first operational NASA commercial crew mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. [Thom Baur/Reuters]
Elon Musk At the Vehicle Assembly Building after the first manned launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
Vapour cone at the moment the Mars 2020 Atlas V-541 approaches supersonic speed. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
US President Donald Trump speaking at the Vehicle Assembly Building after the successful launch of astronauts aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket heading to the International Space Station. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch of Starlink 9, which is one of a series of Starlink missions to provide fast internet speed to remote populations. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on historic launch pad 39-A set to begin the first operational manned launch, dubbed Crew-2, since the retirement of the Space Shuttle missions. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
Launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a GPS III satellite for the US Space Force. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket of Starlink 7 as it approaches cloud cover over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket of Starlink 7, one of a series of missions to provide affordable high-speed internet speeds to remote areas around the world. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
Close-up view of the Merlin engines that power the SpaceX Falcon 9 series of rockets. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying a classified satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. This was a hot launch abort with three seconds to go before liftoff. [Michael Tracy/Al Jazeera]
Crew members of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, spacecraft commander Mike Hopkins at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. [Joe Skipper/Reuters]


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