Tag: commercial-space
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NASA sets Oct. 23 as target launch date for first operational Crew Dragon mission
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 crew members are seen seated in the company’s Crew Dragon spacecraft during crew equipment interface training. From left to right are NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; and Mike Hopkins, Crew Dragon commander; and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi, mission specialist. Credit: SpaceX The first operational flight of SpaceX’s Crew…
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Ariane 5 rocket returns to launch pad for liftoff with commercial satellites
Ground crews transferred an Ariane 5 rocket back to its launch pad Thursday after resolving a technical concern associated with the vehicle’s main stage liquid hydrogen tank. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – J. Durrenberger Loaded with three commercial satellites, a European Ariane 5 rocket returned to its launch pad in French…
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ULA, SpaceX win landmark multibillion-dollar launch agreements with Pentagon
Artist’s concept of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Credit: ULA United Launch Alliance and SpaceX beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for billions of dollars in U.S. military rocket contracts, and will share the load in launching the Pentagon’s highest-priority national security space missions through 2027, officials announced Friday. ULA, the 50-50…
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ULA, SpaceX win contracts to launch satellites for SES in 2022
File photo of a previous Atlas 5 launch in the “531” configuration with three solid rocket boosters. Credit: United Launch Alliance SES has selected United Launch Alliance and SpaceX to launch up to five new commercial C-band communications satellites from Cape Canaveral in 2022 aboard Atlas 5 and Falcon 9 rockets, officials announced Wednesday. Two…
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SpaceX clears big hurdle on next-gen Starship rocket program
Credit: Video frame from live stream by @SpacePadreIsle. A prototype rocket for a massive reusable vehicle SpaceX is designing to fly people to the moon and Mars took off from a launching stand in South Texas on Tuesday, flew to a height of roughly 500 feet, then made a controlled descent to a nearby landing…
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Dragon astronauts describe sounds and sensations of return to Earth
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken are seen Sunday aboard a helicopter that carried from the SpaceX’s “Go Navigator” recovery ship in the Gulf of Mexico to Naval Air Station Pensacola, where they boarded a NASA jet for a flight back to their home base in Houston. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Two days after becoming the…
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Relive the final descent of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft
A video from SpaceX shows the company’s Crew Dragon capsule plunging toward the Gulf of Mexico, then unfurling a series of parachutes to slow the spaceship carrying two NASA astronauts from 350 mph to a relatively gentle 15 mph for splashdown Sunday. The dramatic tracking video released by SpaceX late Monday shows the capsule deploying…
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Astronauts back on Earth after ‘extraordinary’ Dragon test flight
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday with two NASA astronauts on-board. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Returning home after a 64-day test flight, astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken blazed through Earth’s atmosphere and parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft Sunday, a final major step…
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Crew Dragon astronauts pack up for return to Earth
Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner tweeted this photo Saturday of Crew Dragon astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken placing their mission patch on the space station docking port where the Dragon is attached. Credit: Ivan Vagner/Roscosmos Crew Dragon astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken thanked their space station crewmates for a productive two-month visit, readied their…
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Ariane 5 rocket returning to hangar for sensor swap
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated with new launch date of Aug. 14. An Ariane 5 rocket stands at the ELA-3 launch zone at the Guiana Space Center. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – J. Durrenberger Arianespace is returning an Ariane 5 rocket — loaded with three U.S.-built satellites — back to its final assembly building…