Tag: commercial-space
-
Hurley, Behnken heading home on final leg of Crew Dragon test flight
Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken undocked from the International Space Station Saturday aboard their Crew Dragon capsule “Endeavour,” heading for a parachute-assisted splashdown Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico to wrap up a 64-day test flight of SpaceX’s commercial human-rated spaceship. With favorable wind and sea conditions expected in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday,…
-
Astra readies small satellite launcher for test flight from Alaska
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Aug. 3 after scrubbed launch attempt. Updated Aug. 4 after second scrub. Astra’s Rocket 3.1 stands on its launch mount at the Pacific Spaceport Complex on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Credit: Astra / John Kraus After completing a countdown dress rehearsal, Astra is gearing up for its first orbital launch attempt this week from…
-
Live coverage: SpaceX crew capsule splashes down in Gulf of Mexico
Live coverage of the undocking, re-entry and splashdown of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”NASA TV”] [tabby title=”SpaceX webcast”] [tabbyending]
-
Live coverage: Ariane 5 launch scrubbed by sensor problem
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the Galaxy 30 and BSAT-4b communications satellites, and Northrop Grumman’s second Mission Extension Vehicle for satellite servicing. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. Arianespace’s live video webcast will begin approximately 15 minutes…
-
Ariane 5 to test modified fairing for JWST, hardware for new range safety system
The payload shroud containing three commercial satellites on top of the Ariane 5 rocket for launch Friday includes modifications needed for the launch in late 2021 of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon Engineers plan to test small modifications to a payload shroud on a…
-
Crew Dragon astronauts ready for re-entry, splashdown
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Crew Dragon astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken aboard the International Space Station. Credit: NASA With Hurricane Isaias threatening Florida’s East Coast, astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken are awaiting a go-ahead on plans to undock from the International Space Station Saturday, setting up a fiery plunge to…
-
Rocket Lab identifies faulty electrical connector as cause of launch failure
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
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
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
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…