Tag: commercial-space
-
Rocket Lab postpones first commercial launch after issue during fueling test
Rocket Lab’s third two-stage Electron rocket on its launch pad in New Zealand last week in advance of a fueling test. Credit: Rocket Lab/Peter Beck Rocket Lab said Tuesday it will push back the first commercial launch of its light-class Electron rocket from New Zealand by a few weeks to address a problem uncovered during…
-
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross lays out his plan to streamline space regulations
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears on a giant video screen as he addresses the 34th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross today pledged to make outer space more business-friendly as part of his drive to turn his department into the “one-stop shop for space commerce.”…
-
Blue Origin’s orbital rocket in the running to receive U.S. military investment
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 14 with correction on West Coast launch site and BE-4 investment details. Artist’s concept of the two-stage version of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Credit: Blue Origin Blue Origin submitted a proposal late last year in what’s expected to be a four-way competition for U.S. Air Force funding to support development…
-
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg says that humans could get to Mars within a decade*
Politico’s Robert Albritton (left) chats with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg (right) during a space conference. (Politico Live via Facebook) Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg says it’s possible that humans will set foot on Mars in the next decade, and he’s convinced the first people will get there on a Boeing-built rocket. Muilenburg’s comments, made today during…
-
Orbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13. Artist’s concept of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s bid to join the U.S. military’s roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident…
-
NanoRacks lays out vision for turning rockets into space outposts, starting with Independence-1
Artwork shows a Centaur upper stage that’s been converted into an outpost. (NanoRacks Illustration) Don’t call them commercial space stations, or gateways, or portals. NanoRacks is laying claim to a different moniker for its new breed of refurbished orbital modules. “We like ‘outposts,’” NanoRacks CEO Jeffrey Manber told GeekWire. The space outposts that Manber has…
-
Boeing proposes extending test flight of commercial crew capsule
Artist’s illustration of a CST-100 Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. Credit: Boeing NASA has agreed to consider a Boeing proposal to extend the first piloted test flight of its commercial CST-100 Starliner crew capsule from two weeks to up to six months with an extra crew member for the International Space Station,…
-
Photos: VSS Unity’s first powered test flight
These images captured by photographer Gene Blevins show Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo space plane making its first rocket-powered test flight Thursday over California’s Mojave Desert, then gliding back to a runway landing. The SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, dropping from the belly of a carrier jet at 9:01 a.m. PDT (12:01 p.m. EDT; 1601 GMT)…
-
Rocket Lab preps for first commercial satellite launch
File photo of a test-firing of Rocket Lab’s Rutherford engine. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s first full-up commercial launch is set for April 19, U.S. time, from the company’s privately-operated launch base in New Zealand with three U.S.-owned satellites to collect weather data. The next Electron launch will loft two satellites owned by Spire Global…
-
Video: SpaceShipTwo rocket plane soars on supersonic test flight
Virgin Galactic’s commercial SpaceShipTwo rocket plane made its highest and fastest flight to date Thursday, moving the company’s space tourism ambitions closer to reality more than three years after a fatal accident suspended powered test flights. This video shows the SpaceShipTwo vehicle, named VSS Unity, dropping from the belly of a carrier jet at 9:01…