Tag: commercial-space
-
NASA developing plans to fly astronauts on suborbital rockets
File photo of a New Shepard launch. Credit: Blue Origin NASA says it is interested in flying astronauts and scientists on commercial suborbital vehicles, like those being tested by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, to provide additional training and research opportunities augmenting missions to the orbiting International Space Station. The space agency announced this week…
-
Astronauts gear up for Friday spacewalk amid planning for August Crew Dragon return
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken work with their spacesuits ahead of the first in a series of spacewalks scheduled for Friday. Credit: NASA Space station commander Chris Cassidy and Robert Behnken plan to float outside Friday for the first of up to four spacewalks needed to…
-
Relativity books up to six launches for Iridium, reveals plans for Vandenberg pad
Artist’s illustration of Relativity’s Terran 1 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: Relativity Space Relativity Space, a small launch startup aiming to fly its orbital rocket from Cape Canaveral for the first time next year, announced Wednesday it has signed a contract with Iridium for up to six launches of the company’s…
-
NASA agrees to fly astronauts on reused Crew Dragon spacecraft
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft approaches the International Space Station on May 31 with astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on-board. Credit: NASA NASA has agreed to allow its astronauts to fly on reused Crew Dragon spaceships and Falcon 9 boosters beginning as soon as SpaceX’s third launch of a crew to the International Space Station,…
-
Virgin Galactic and NASA make a deal on services for private orbital astronauts
Seattle software billionaire Charles Simonyi took two privately funded trips to the International Space Station, in 2007 and 2009, with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft serving as his transport. (NASA photo) Virgin Galactic says it has signed an agreement with NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas to develop a new readiness program for private-sector astronauts heading…
-
U.S. military to award smallsat launch contracts using COVID-19 relief funds
Astra’s first orbital-class small satellite launcher, designated “1 of 3,” is raised vertical in this photo taken at a spaceport on Kodiak Island, Alaska, in February. Credit: DARPA The U.S. military said this week it plans to award rideshare small satellite launch contracts to six U.S. companies using funds appropriated to help stabilize the defense…
-
NASA’s new head of human spaceflight says SpaceX’s Dragon is in good shape
NASA’s Kathy Lueders beams with joy as the hatches are opened between SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule and the International Space Station on May 31. (NASA Photo / Joel Kowsky) NASA’s newly named associate administrator for human exploration and operations, Kathy Lueders, says that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule “has been doing great” at the International Space…
-
Starlink satellite deployments continue with successful Falcon 9 launch
A Falcon 9 rocket streaked into space just before sunrise Saturday from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Breaking a SpaceX record for the shortest span between two missions from the same launch pad, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Saturday from Cape Canaveral carrying 58 more Starlink broadband satellites and three Earth-imaging spacecraft for Planet. The…
-
Live coverage: Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on first Starlink rideshare mission
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The mission will launch SpaceX’s ninth batch of Starlink broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter [tabby title=”SpaceX webcast”] [tabby title=”SpaceX mission audio”] [tabbyending]
-
University-built CubeSat launched with swarm of auroral science nodes
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket climbs away from a launch base in New Zealand Saturday. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras.…