Tag: commercial-space
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Stephen Hawking will help Virgin Galactic roll out second SpaceShipTwo on Feb. 19
British physicist Stephen Hawking addresses Virgin Galactic customers at Cambridge University. (Credit: Richard Branson via YouTube) More than a year after the first SpaceShipTwo rocket plane was destroyed in a fatal test flight, Virgin Galactic says the second SpaceShipTwo is ready for its California rollout on Feb. 19 – and famed British physicist Stephen Hawking is invited.…
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Billionaire Space Club pits Elon Musk vs. Jeff Bezos vs. Richard Branson vs. Paul Allen and more
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (in hat and sunglasses) pops open a bottle of champagne after Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket landing in November. (Credit: Blue Origin) When Jeff Bezos welcomed SpaceX to the rocket landing “club” last week, it set off a round of twittering over whether Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and fellow billionaire…
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Round-trip rocket flight gives SpaceX a trifecta of successes
The Falcon 9’s ascent and descent tracks are seen in this long exposure photo taken just south of the launch and landing locations. Photo credit: SpaceX Flying through the sky at supersonic speed, a Falcon 9 rocket stage descended to a historic landing at Cape Canaveral on Monday, returning to the spaceport minutes after boosting…
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SpaceX postpones Falcon 9 launch by a day to maximize chances for landing
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands on its Florida launch pad. (Credit: Orbcomm) SpaceX has delayed the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with 11 Orbcomm telecommunication satellites for a day, to wait for a better chance to land the rocket’s first-stage booster after liftoff. The commercial rocket company’s billionaire founder, Elon Musk, said the decision…
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Photos: Taller, souped-up Falcon 9 on the launch pad
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, built with extended propellant tanks and engines rated for higher thrust, is poised for liftoff on the company’s first launch since a catastrophic failure in June grounded the commercial booster. The rocket stands 229 feet tall, five feet taller than the previous version of the Falcon 9, and will burn…
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SpaceX gets set for Falcon 9’s return to flight – and Florida landing attempt
SpaceX is getting ready to launch its Falcon 9 rocket from Florida. (Credit: SpaceX) SpaceX is planning to launch its Falcon 9 rocket for the first time in nearly six months on Sunday, and says it will try flying the first-stage booster back to Florida for a landing for the first time. The Falcon 9…
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Congress’ omnibus bill gives NASA a Christmas bonus: a bigger $19.3 billion budget
An artist’s conception shows an orbiter at Europa, a mysterious moon of Jupiter. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech) The 2,009-page omnibus bill that’s been crafted by Congress for the current fiscal year boosts NASA’s budget to $19.3 billion, which is $756 million more than the White House asked for. The big winners include NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System and its planetary…
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Lawmakers geek out over Washington state’s rising space industry
Employees at Blue Origin’s headquarters in Kent, Wash., cheer as they watch the landing of the company’s New Shepard test spaceship on Nov. 23. “How do we steal that video?” Lt. Gov. Brad Owen joked after watching a clip showing the celebration. (Credit: Blue Origin) Washington state legislators got an introduction to the state’s space…
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Virgin Galactic gets a 747 jet to serve as flying launch pad for its LauncherOne rocket
An artist’s conception shows a Virgin Galactic 747 jet carrying a LauncherOne rocket. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) Virgin Galactic showed off its latest mothership today: a Boeing 747-400 jet that it acquired from its corporate cousins at Virgin Atlantic to serve as the platform for its LauncherOne rocket. LauncherOne is designed to be launched from a…
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Video: Jeff Bezos spotlights Blue Origin’s ‘very happy’ rocket scientists after touchdown
Blue Origin employees celebrate the successful landing of the company’s uncrewed suborbital rocket ship after a test flight to the edge of space on Nov. 23. (Credit: Blue Origin via YouTube) “Touchdown” means something different to rocket scientists and to football fans, but the cheering, hugs and high fives are the same – as revealed today…