Tag: Atlas V
-
Launch Roundup: 100th launch of the year, Starliner delays, NASA’s PREFIRE-1 mission
There are two launches from China to start this week, the first of which will be the 95th launch attempt of the year worldwide. If all goes to plan, this week should see the 100th launch of 2024, although the schedule is rather fluid at present. SpaceX has already passed 50 launches this year and…
-
Rocket Report: Starship stacked; Georgia shuts the door on Spaceport Camden
Welcome to Edition 6.44 of the Rocket Report! Kathy Lueders, general manager of SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility, says the company expects to receive an FAA launch license for the next Starship test flight shortly after Memorial Day. It looks like this rocket could fly in late May or early June, about two-and-a-half months after the…
-
Boeing is troubleshooting a small helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft
Boeing is taking a few extra days to resolve a small helium leak on the Starliner spacecraft slated to ferry two NASA astronauts on a test flight to the International Space Station, officials said Tuesday. This means the first crew launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, running years behind schedule and more than $1.4 billion over…
-
Launch Roundup: Boeing Starliner delayed and China launches new rocket variant
This week was expected to see the maiden launches of two new spacecraft: Boeing’s crewed Starliner spacecraft and the first Chang Zheng 6C rocket from China. The launch of Starliner’s Crewed Flight Test (CFT) mission will be the first crewed launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station since the Apollo era, as well as the…
-
Faulty valve scuttles Starliner’s first crew launch
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams climbed into their seats inside Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Monday night in Florida, but trouble with the capsule’s Atlas V rocket kept the commercial ship’s long-delayed crew test flight on the ground. Around two hours before launch time, shortly after 8:30 pm EDT (00:30 UTC), United Launch Alliance’s launch team stopped…
-
Rocket Report: Starship could save Mars Sample Return; BE-4s for second Vulcan
Welcome to Edition 6.40 of the Rocket Report! There was a lot of exciting news this week. For the first time, SpaceX launched a reusable Falcon 9 booster for a 20th flight. A few miles away at Cape Canaveral, Boeing and United Launch Alliance completed one of the final steps before the first crew launch…
-
All the pieces are in place for the first crew flight of Boeing’s Starliner
Ground teams on Florida’s Space Coast hoisted Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket this week, putting all the pieces in place for liftoff next month with two veteran NASA astronauts on a test flight to the International Space Station. This will be the first time astronauts fly on Boeing’s Starliner…
-
Atlas V rocket completes on-target orbital delivery for Amazon
The first two prototype satellites for Amazon’s broadband network launched Friday from Florida, the first in a series of at least 77 rocket launches the retail giant has booked over the next six years to deploy a fleet of more than 3,200 spacecraft to rival SpaceX’s Starlink system. These first two satellites for Amazon’s $10…
-
Launch Roundup: Project Kuiper Protoflight and Galactic 04 highlight this week
United Launch Alliance (ULA) flew only its second Atlas V of 2023, as Amazon’s subsidiary Kuiper Systems LLC is finally placed its first Kuiper demonstration satellites into orbit. This week also featured a launch from China, three Falcon 9 Starlink launches, a Virgin Galactic suborbital tourist flight, and one of the final flights for the…
-
ULA’s Atlas V rocket has launched for the first time in nearly a year
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket returned to action Sunday with a mission to deploy multiple satellites into geosynchronous orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office and the US Space Force. This mission ended a 10-month gap in launches for ULA’s primary rocket, the longest period between Atlas V launches in 20 years as the company…