Tag: commercial-space
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VSS Unity: Virgin Galactic christens a reborn SpaceShipTwo, with assist from Stephen Hawking
Virgin Galactic’s second SpaceShipTwo rocket plane, dubbed the VSS Unity, rolls out under the spotlights at the company’s hangar in Mojave, Calif. (GeekWire photo by Alan Boyle) MOJAVE, Calif. – Sixteen months after Virgin Galactic’s first SpaceShipTwo rocket plane was lost amid tragedy, the second SpaceShipTwo was christened Virgin Spaceship Unity today with a smashed bottle…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket venture provides glimpses of its road ahead
Blue Origin’s New Shepard prototype spaceship blasts off in January. (Credit: Blue Origin) Blue Origin, the space venture founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, is lifting the curtain just a bit on its future plans for rocket engines and spaceflights. One of the revelations relates to progress on its methane-fueled BE-4 rocket engine, which is on…
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NASA’s backing fuels more interest in SNC’s Dream Chaser mini-space shuttle
Technicians at an SNC facility in Colorado inspect the Dream Chaser engineering test article, or ETA, which is being put through flight tests. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation) NASA’s decision to use Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle to carry cargo to and from the International Space Station marks the most positive development to date for…
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Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard booster flies again
Two months after it flew into space and landed smoothly, Blue Origin’s suborbital New Shepard booster made the trip again Friday, proving it can be reused for future space tourism jaunts and laying the groundwork for a future commercial satellite launcher, the company said. The hydrogen-fueled single stage rocket took off and landed at a…
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin does it again: Used rocket goes into space and lands intact
Blue Origin’s New Shepard propulsion module fires its rocket engines for a soft landing. It marked the second trip to space and touchdown for the same prototype vehicle. (Credit: Blue Origin) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture sent up its New Shepard suborbital spaceship on another flight test to outer-space altitudes today, and brought…
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SpaceX shows how its Dragon 2 spaceship hovers
A SpaceX Dragon craft fires its thrusters during a propulsive hover test in Texas. (Credit: SpaceX) A newly released video shows SpaceX’s Dragon 2 capsule pulling off a valuable trick: firing its thrusters to hover above a landing pad. The Nov. 24 test was part of Project DragonFly, the California-based company’s effort to develop a Dragon that can…
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Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson ribs space billionaires amid Blue Origin buzz
Richard Branson says he’s in a friendly rivalry with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture may have done another flight test, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX is making waves with its rocket progress – but don’t forget about Richard Branson. “Our spaceship comes back and lands on wheels. Theirs…
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Ride a balloon to space? $15M deal gives a lift to World View spaceport in Tucson
World View’s Voyager capsule would rise into the stratosphere at the end of a high-altitude balloon, with a parafoil used to aid in its descent. (World View Enterprises illustration) World View Enterprises’ plan to send tourists from Spaceport Tucson into the stratosphere in a balloon-borne capsule won a $15 million vote of support today from…
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Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle will join NASA’s space cargo fleet
The Dream Chaser mini-shuttle has won NASA’s backing. (Credit: NASA / SNC Space Systems) NASA says it will add Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser space glider to its cargo-carrying lineup of robotic spaceships as early as 2019. It’s likely to be the first winged vehicle to fly in orbit for NASA since the space shuttle…
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Space ventures get shout-outs in State of the State Address – and State of the Union
In his State of the State Address, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee pointed to Aerojet Rocketdyne, Blue Origin and SpaceX as aerospace success stories. (Credit: Office of the Governor) Even though they happened far from the Evergreen State, last year’s Pluto flyby and the rocket landings accomplished by Blue Origin and SpaceX were among the “big…