Falcon 9 Dragon Launch 2010

Launch Vehicle:

Falcon 9

 

Launch Site:

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL

 

Launch Time:

December 8, 2010 - 15:43 UTC


SpaceX made history on December 8, 2010 as the first commercial company to re-enter a spacecraft from orbiting the Earth.  It was also a big day for the CubeSat community - the Falcon 9's second stage carried up six P-PODs along with the Dragon spacecraft (three of which can be seen in the images below).

Later view of Dragon separation from second stage

 

Dragon capsule is now fully separated from the second stage

Dragon capsule moves further away (visible P-PODs are boxed in red)

Dragon capsule moves further away (visible P-PODs are boxed in red)

Minotaur IV STP-S26 Launch 2010

LAUNCH VEHICLE:

Minotaur IV

 

NUMBER OF CUBESATS:

7 satellites, 16 experiments

 

PRIMARY PAYLOAD:

STP-S26

 

LAUNCH SITE:

Kodiak Launch Complex

 

LAUNCH TIME:

November 20th, 2010 - 01:25 UTC

For more information on the CubeSats on this launch, please visit their missions websites:

RAX - http://rax.engin.umich.edu/
O/OREOS - http://ooreos.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm
NanoSail-D - http://nanosaild.engr.scu.edu/dashboard.htm
Fasttrac - http://fastrac.ae.utexas.edu/for_radio_operators/overview.php

For more pictures visit:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/stps26/101120gallery/

For the latest status updates visit:

http://spaceflightnow.com/minotaur/stps26/status.html