Tag: commercial-space
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SpaceX performs static fire, preps for Monday launch from Florida
A plume of exhaust and steam erupts from pad 39A as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fires its nine Merlin main engines during Thursday’s static fire test. Credit: Spaceflight Now Set to resume a brisk pace of launch activity after a nearly six-week respite, SpaceX test-fired its next Falcon 9 rocket Thursday at NASA’s Kennedy Space…
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Live coverage: SpaceX rolls out rocket for static fire
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the next Falcon 9 rocket launch from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission will launch a Dragon supply ship with several tons of cargo and experiments for the International Space Station. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page.…
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Shuttle-era structure dismantled piece-by-piece at pad 39A
Credit: Spaceflight Now A heavy-duty crane towering over launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in recent weeks has removed several large sections of a disused structure once needed to install satellites and space station modules into space shuttle cargo bays. A demolition crew hired by SpaceX, the launch pad’s current tenant, has plucked…
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Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo plane glides through a ‘dry run’ for blastoff
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity glides through a test flight. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Virgin Galactic said its SpaceShipTwo rocket plane today executed a successful gliding flight test that was “essentially a dry run for rocket-powered flights.” “Our major first today though was that with the exception of the rocket motor fuel grain … we flew with…
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SES agrees to launch another satellite on previously-flown Falcon 9 booster
A Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage booster lands at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 19 following a launch from nearby Kennedy Space Center with a space station cargo ship. Credit: SpaceX Six months after sending one of its communications satellites to orbit on the first re-flight of a SpaceX rocket, SES intends to…
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Orbital ATK kicks off follow-on station cargo contract, targets next Antares launch in October
A view inside Orbital ATK’s horizontal integration facility at Wallops Island, Virginia, in June. This image shows components of the Antares rocket slated to launch this fall. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now As Orbital ATK engineers aim for the next launch of the company’s Antares rocket from Virginia this fall, early planning for missions to keep…
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If you bring it, they will come: Crowds mob Blue Origin spaceship at Oshkosh air show
Even Jeff Bezos was impressed when Blue Origin’s suborbital space booster and capsule mockup went on display at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wis. The line to get a look inside the New Shepard capsule snaked around the equivalent of city blocks, as shown in an aerial view that the billionaire founder of…
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Why asteroids loom as a future space frontier for mining and manufacturing
In this artist’s conception, a mining spacecraft makes a rendezvous with an asteroid. (SpaceResources.lu) It’s been 55 years since satellite communications became the first commercial space frontier, and space tourism is looming as the next frontier. But what comes after that? Would you believe in-space mining and manufacturing? Those are the opportunities that came to…
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Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft
File photo of a Dragon spacecraft at SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California. Credit: SpaceX The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceX’s first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon…
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Musk aims for November debut of Falcon Heavy
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in flight. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX aims to launch the first Falcon Heavy rocket in November, company chief Elon Musk said Thursday, the latest in a series of schedule targets for the heavy-lift launcher’s delayed debut. Musk shared the updated schedule on social media late Thursday, a week after…