Tag: commercial-space

  • Rocket Lab identifies faulty electrical connector as cause of launch failure

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    A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off from New Zealand on July 4 with seven small satellites. The rocket’s upper stage shut down prematurely, resulting in the loss of all seven payloads. Credit: Rocket Lab A detached electrical connector on the second stage of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket caused a failure on a July 4…

  • Safety panel concerned about quality control on Boeing crew capsule

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    Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that flew on the Orbital Flight Test mission is pictured last November outside the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: Alex Polimeni/Spaceflight Now Members of NASA’s independent panel of aerospace safety advisors raised concerns last week about quality control problems that “seemingly have plagued”…

  • Virgin Orbit traces cause of LauncherOne engine failure to propellant line

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    Virgin Orbit’s first LauncherOne rocket ignites its engine after release from a Boeing 747 carrier jet during the company’s first orbital launch attempt May 25. Credit: Virgin Orbit An engine failure that cut short the first test flight of Virgin Orbit’s air-dropped LauncherOne rocket in May was caused by a faulty propellant feed line, the…

  • Astra ships next small satellite launcher to Alaska spaceport

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    Astra’s second orbital-class small satellite launcher undergoes a hotfire test before its shipment to Alaska for final launch preparations. Credit: Astra Astra’s next small satellite launcher has shipped to Kodiak Island in Alaska for final preparations ahead of a test flight planned in early August, five months after the company’s first orbital rocket faltered before…

  • Astra ships next small satellite launcher to Alaska spaceport

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    Astra’s second orbital-class small satellite launcher undergoes a hotfire test before its shipment to Alaska for final launch preparations. Credit: Astra Astra’s next small satellite launcher has shipped to Kodiak Island in Alaska for final preparations ahead of a test flight planned in early August, five months after the company’s first orbital rocket faltered before…

  • SpaceX shares video of first double fairing catch

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    SpaceX’s two fast-maneuvering payload fairing recovery vessels were in the right place at the right time Monday to catch both halves of the nose shroud jettisoned by a Falcon 9 rocket climbing into orbit with South Korea’s Anasis 2 military communications satellite. The California-based launch company released a pair of videos Tuesday on Twitter, showing…

  • SpaceX shares video of first double fairing catch

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    SpaceX’s two fast-maneuvering payload fairing recovery vessels were in the right place at the right time Monday to catch both halves of the nose shroud jettisoned by a Falcon 9 rocket climbing into orbit with South Korea’s Anasis 2 military communications satellite. The California-based launch company released a pair of videos Tuesday on Twitter, showing…

  • Spacewalkers prep space station for future upgrades

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken completed a 5-hour, 29-minute spacewalk today to prepare the International Space Station for future upgrades.READ MORE: https://t.co/2F2xvbK3GT pic.twitter.com/Db4VnRiXYa — Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) July 21, 2020 Space station commander Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken floated back outside Tuesday for their fourth spacewalk in…

  • Spacewalkers prep space station for future upgrades

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken completed a 5-hour, 29-minute spacewalk today to prepare the International Space Station for future upgrades.READ MORE: https://t.co/2F2xvbK3GT pic.twitter.com/Db4VnRiXYa — Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) July 21, 2020 Space station commander Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken floated back outside Tuesday for their fourth spacewalk in…

  • SpaceX delivers South Korea’s first military satellite into on-target orbit

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    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Monday. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deployed South Korea’s first dedicated military satellite into orbit Monday a half-hour after a fiery launch from Cape Canaveral, helping fulfill an agreement between Lockheed Martin and the South Korean…