Tag: commercial-space
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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]
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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.…
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Hitching a ride with SpaceX, Planet poised to complete SkySat fleet
Three of Planet’s SkySat Earth-imaging satellites are mounted on top of 58 SpaceX Starlink Internet satellites for launch Saturday. Credit: Planet / SpaceX Three of Planet’s SkySat Earth-imaging satellites are mounted on top of 58 of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites for launch Saturday from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket, the first…
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Astronauts say riding Falcon 9 rocket was “totally different” from the space shuttle
A view inside SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft during launch May 30. NASA astronaut Bob Behnken is seen in the foreground. Astronaut Doug Hurley is seated to the left of Behnken. Credit: NASA TV / SpaceX Astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken say SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket was a “very pure flying machine” as it sped…
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NASA picks Astrobotic to deliver its VIPER rover to lunar south pole for nearly $200M
NASA has awarded a $199.5 million contract to Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic to deliver its VIPER rover to the moon’s south pole in 2023, marking one more not-so-small step for the commercialization of lunar exploration. VIPER, which stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, will conduct a detailed on-the-ground assessment of water ice buried in lunar soil.…
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Live coverage: Rocket Lab back in action with twilight launch in New Zealand
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1 on Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand carrying payloads into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office, NASA and the University of New South Wales in Canberra, Australia. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Rocket Lab’s live video…