Tag: commercial-space
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Planet reserves rideshare slots on SpaceX Starlink launches
Two SkySat satellites receive their supply of “green” propellant before a launch on a Vega rocket from French Guiana in 2016. Credit: ESA/CNES/Arianespace – Photo Optique Video du CSG – P. Baudon Three of Planet’s commercial SkySat Earth-imaging spacecraft will ride to space on top of a stack of SpaceX Starlink satellites next month aboard…
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Crew Dragon capsule meets Falcon 9 rocket inside launch pad hangar
SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft arrives at the Falcon 9 rocket hangar at pad 39A late Friday, May 15, for integration with its launch vehicle. The Crew Dragon is set for launch May 27 with astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett SpaceX transferred the first astronaut-ready Crew Dragon spacecraft Friday night from a…
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Blustery weather keeps Atlas 5 rocket grounded, SpaceX launch slips to Tuesday
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 12:40 p.m. and 9:00 EDT with quote and additional SpaceX launch delay. Vapors from cryogenic propellant stream away from an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral Saturday. Credit: United Launch Alliance Gusty winds associated with a subtropical low pressure system prevented United Launch Alliance from sending an Atlas 5 rocket into orbit…
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Dragon crew begins augmented version of NASA’s standard pre-launch quarantine
Astronaut Doug Hurley undergoes a fit check in his SpaceX spacesuit. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA has added extra safeguards to the agency’s standard pre-launch quarantine protocol to protect astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley from the coronavirus and other contagions in the final two weeks before their scheduled May 27 launch on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon…
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SpaceX readies rocket for final Falcon 9 launch before crew flight
SpaceX test-fires a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. Credit: William Harwood/CBS News SpaceX fired up a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Wednesday in a pre-flight test for a Starlink satellite launch Sunday, moving closer to the company’s final mission before sending two NASA astronauts into orbit for the…
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Back-to-back launches scheduled from Cape Canaveral this weekend
An Atlas 5 rocket, seen inside its Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral, is set for launch Saturday morning with the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane. Credit: United Launch Alliance Working under physical distancing requirements and other precautions against the coronavirus pandemic, range teams at Cape Canaveral are preparing for launches of Atlas 5 and…
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Dragon solar array concerns driving duration of first crewed test flight
Artist’s concept of a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be geared up for the long haul when they launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft later this month, but they won’t know exactly how long…
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Cygnus departs space station, beginning extended experimental mission
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 12:30 p.m. EDT (1630 GMT) after Cygnus release. The Cygnus cargo freighter has been released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm, ending the spacecraft’s 83-day stay at the orbiting complex. WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/eyXXSFxOFR pic.twitter.com/XucgpieiSM — Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) May 11, 2020 A Cygnus supply ship built by Northrop Grumman departed the…
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Dragon astronauts wrap up training, prepare to enter quarantine
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated May 11 with plans for astronauts to quarantine at home, rather than at Johnson Space Center. NASA astronauts Doug Hurley (left) and Bob Behnken (right) monitor the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket inside Firing Room 4 at the Launch Control Center located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/Kim…
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Video: Demo-2 crew training reel
This video reel offers insights into the training of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley for their launch on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled for launch no earlier than May 27 from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The two-man…