Tag: commercial-space
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Paul Allen’s passing leaves unfinished business on Stratolaunch’s space frontier
Paul Allen stands on the wing of the giant Stratolaunch plane during a March 2017 tour of the hangar in Mojave, Calif., where the craft was being assembled. The plane’s tail is in the background. (Paul Allen via Twitter) Seattle billionaire philanthropist Paul Allen’s death comes just as his Stratolaunch space venture is counting down…
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Safety panel says much work left to do before commercial crew ships fly
A test model of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft descends under four main parachutes over Naval Air Facility El Centro in Southern California during a drop test earlier this year. The Crew Dragon will normally return to splash down at sea, but this test gathered data on the parachutes’ performance during an abort that would force…
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Paul Allen’s giant Stratolaunch plane gets closer to first flight with 80 mph taxi test
Mountains loom in the distance as Stratolaunch Systems’ twin-fuselage airplane is taken out for testing at California’s Mojave Air and Space Port. (Stratolaunch Photo via Twitter) The world’s biggest airplane, built by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch Systems, is one step closer to making its first flight after buzzing down the runway at California’s Mojave…
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SpaceX aces first rocket landing in California after launching Argentine satellite
A Falcon 9 rocket launched Sunday night from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite. Credit: SpaceX A Falcon 9 rocket launching an Argentine Earth-observing satellite streaked across the skies of Southern California on Sunday night, then its booster stage returned to Vandenberg Air Force Base for an on-target landing,…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches Argentine satellite, lands rocket in California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with SAOCOM 1A, a radar observation satellite for Argentina. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.
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Photos: Falcon 9 rocket, landing pad ready for action at Vandenberg
The Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the SAOCOM 1A satellite stands on its launch pad Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was raised vertical at Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Sunday ahead of a planned liftoff with Argentina’s SAOCOM 1A radar observation satellite, and the…
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Boeing and SpaceX reschedule Starliner and Dragon space taxi flight tests for 2019
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner are being developed to transport astronauts to and from the International Space Station for NASA. (SpaceX / Boeing Illustrations) NASA says we’ll have to wait until 2019 to see the first orbital tests of the space taxis that are being built by SpaceX and Boeing for trips to…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin makes a deal to build rocket servicing center in Florida
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket booster landing on a recovery ship. (Blue Origin Illustration via YouTube) Blue Origin, the space venture created by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has struck a deal with Florida’s spaceport authority to build a $60 million rocket testing and refurbishment facility near Cape Canaveral. The facility would…
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NanoRacks names its space outpost team, including Stratolaunch and Olis Robotics
An artist’s conception shows a Centaur upper-stage booster that’s been outfitted to become an orbital outpost. (NanoRacks Illustration) It takes a village to raise an space outpost, and NanoRacks’ array of villagers includes Stratolaunch as well as Olis Robotics, the startup formerly known as BluHaptics. NanoRacks, which is headquartered in Texas, today listed those two Seattle-based…
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SpaceX completes hotfire test, preps for first California rocket landing
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Oct. 3 with 24-hour launch delay to Oct. 7. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will launch Saturday will reuse the first stage booster from a July 25 mission that carried 10 Iridium communications satellites into orbit. This photo shows the Falcon 9 rocket before the July 25 launch from California. Credit:…