Tag: Air Force
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Air Force and Blue Origin team up on a new California test site for BE-7 lunar lander engine
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s altitude facility at Edwards Air Force Base conducts research on next-generation rocket components, propellant formulations and subsystems; and high-vacuum research on satellite components. Research testing includes solid rocket motor testing at simulated altitudes up to 120,000 feet. (AFRL Photo) Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is partnering with…
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Rocket Lab’s Virginia launch pad opens for business, with Air Force as first customer
With Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck at center, dignitaries gather at Launch Complex 2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Virginia’s Wallops Island. (NASA Wallops Photo) Rocket Lab today celebrated the opening of a launch complex on the Virginia coast, half a world away from its first launch pad in New Zealand. The California-based company’s…
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GAO sides with Blue Origin in dispute over Air Force’s multibillion-dollar launch contract process
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. (Blue Origin Illustration) The Government Accountability Office is agreeing with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture that the Air Force needs to amend its rules for deciding who’ll get future contracts for national security space launches. Today’s GAO decision comes in response to Blue…
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Air Force’s mysterious X-37B space plane lands after spending 780 days in orbit
The Air Force’s X-37B space plane lands at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (Air Force Photo) The U.S. Air Force’s X-37B space plane landed today after spending a record-setting 780 days in orbit testing hush-hush technologies for long-duration spaceflight. Touchdown at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in…
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Trump ushers in U.S. Space Command, with Space Force (or Corps) in the works
The official flag of the newly revived U.S. Space Command is unfurled at a White House Rose Garden ceremony, with Air Force Gen. Jay Raymond, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Defense Secretary Mark Esper looking on. (White House Photo / Tia Dufour) President Donald Trump today hailed the revival of the U.S.…
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Blue Origin protests launch contract rules as it competes with SpaceX, ULA, Northrop Grumman
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s future New Glenn rocket, which is currently due to have its first flight in 2021. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is protesting the rules of the game for awarding future national security launch contracts, while continuing to play against SpaceX, United Launch Alliance…
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Government officials are reaching out to commercial ventures for space race revival
An artist’s conception shows a next-generation moon lander. (NASA Illustration) RENTON, Wash. — Fifty years after the landmark Apollo 11 mission blasted off for the climax of the U.S.-Soviet space race, officials from NASA and the Air Force highlighted the role of commercial space ventures in running a new race for American leadership on the…
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Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop Grumman weigh in on multibillion-dollar SpaceX rocket lawsuit
Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine, shown here during a test firing in Texas, is being developed for use on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as well as United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. (Blue Origin Photo) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and subsidiaries of United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman are intervening in…
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Olis Robotics wins $50K from Air Force to study options for satellite-servicing robots
An artist’s conception shows one satellite extending its robotic arm to grasp and refuel another satellite in orbit. (NASA / Goddard Illustration) Seattle-based Olis Robotics says it has received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Air Force to lay out a plan for using its AI-driven software platform to control satellite-servicing robots in orbit. The…
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SpaceX files lawsuit against the federal government — but asks to keep the details under wraps
A recovered Falcon 9 rocket booster stands tall next to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) SpaceX today filed a lawsuit against the federal government, apparently protesting a contract bidding process — but asked the court to keep the proceedings under seal and covered by a protective order. The California-based company…