Tag: Boeing
-
Former head of Boeing’s Starliner program returns to role
Officials from NASA, Boeing, United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron participate in a prelaunch briefing for Boeing’s Orbital Flight Test at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dec. 17, 2019. From left are Kathy Lueders, NASA Commercial Crew Program; John Mulholland, vice president and program manager, Boeing Commercial Crew…
-
Musk: President Trump calls for fast-track return to Earth of the former Starliner astronauts
NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module and Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. Image: NASA. In a late afternoon post to X, SpaceX founder Elon Musk stirred up some confusion and consternation among the space community. Without any indication…
-
SpaceX launches first two SES O3b mPOWER satellites with upgrades to address power issues seen on earlier spacecraft
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 39A near sunset to begin the O3b mPOWER 7 & 8 mission on Dec. 17, 2024. This was SpaceX’s third Falcon 9 launch in less than 24 hours. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now Update 6:14 p.m. EST (2300 UTC): SpaceX landed the Falcon 9 first stage…
-
Launch Roundup: Kairos stands down second launch attempt, Falcon 9 to launch 03, GPS and NRO missions
This week, Japanese commercial company Space One stood down two attempts to launch its Kairos vehicle for the second time, while SpaceX has four Falcon 9 launches at the end of the week from Friday onwards. These include customer missions carrying satellites for the 03b mPOWER and GPS-III constellations and another for the National Reconnaissance…
-
Boeing finishing expansion of NASA SLS Core Stage production facilities at KSC
NASA and Space Launch System core stage prime contractor Boeing are working to finish activating new production facilities at the Kennedy Space Center, to complete and deliver the next two units by the end of 2026. After summertime engine section hardware deliveries, the two SLS processing cells in the Space Systems Processing Facility are filled…
-
What is happening with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft?
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft safely landed empty in the New Mexico desert about eight weeks ago, marking a hollow end to the company’s historic first human spaceflight. The vehicle’s passengers during its upward flight to the International Space Station earlier this summer, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, remain in space, awaiting a ride home on SpaceX’s…
-
Atlas V set for final missions ahead of retirement
United Launch Alliance (ULA) will soon close out production of its Atlas V rocket, completing a stock of 15 boosters set to fly on contracted missions. With ULA’s future focus on the Vulcan rocket, Atlas V will aim to end on a high, adding to over one hundred successful launches. The last Atlas V Common Core Booster will…
-
Space shots: A tangled web of speculation surrounds Boeing, Blue Origin and Bezos
Seven BE-4 rocket engines have been installed on Blue Origin’s first New Glenn booster. (Blue Origin Photo) Is Boeing thinking about unloading some of its space projects? Is Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture a potential buyer? And in light of former President Donald Trump’s increasingly close relationship with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, how are…
-
Boeing is still bleeding money on the Starliner commercial crew program
Sometimes, it’s worth noting when something goes unsaid. On Wednesday, Boeing’s new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, participated in his first quarterly conference call with investment analysts. Under fire from labor groups and regulators, Boeing logged a nearly $6.2 billion loss for the last three months, while the new boss pledged a turnaround for the troubled aerospace…
-
In a rare disclosure, the Pentagon provides an update on the X-37B spaceplane
After more than nine months in an unusual, highly elliptical orbit, the US military’s X-37B spaceplane will soon begin dipping its wings into Earth’s atmosphere to lower its altitude before eventually coming back to Earth for a runway landing, the Space Force said Thursday. The aerobraking maneuvers will use a series of passes through the…