Tag: commercial-space
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Rocket Lab reports recovery test success
Aiming for reusability, Rocket Lab has demonstrated the mid-air recovery of a booster test article in a key test before rigging the first stage of the company’s Electron launcher with a parachute on missions beginning later this year. The company said the test in early March showed Rocket Lab’s concept of catching a descending Electron…
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NASA awards robotic lunar landing contract to Masten Space Systems
Masten’s XL-1 lunar lander will deliver science and technology payloads to the moon’s south pole in 2022.Credit: Masten Space Systems NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon’s south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic…
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Florida launch range remains open; Falcon 9 mission postponed
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 15 with new launch date. File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Range personnel at Cape Canaveral will employ physical distancing, face covers and other cautionary measures to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus during launch operations, the commander of the U.S. military’s 45th Space Wing…
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Virgin Orbit completes cryogenic captive carry test flight
Virgin Orbit’s rocket carrier aircraft, named “Cosmic Girl,” executes a pull-up maneuver to simulate the release of the company’s small satellite launcher. Credit: Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit completed a captive carry flight of its liquid-fueled air-launched rocket Sunday over the Pacific Ocean in what the company described as its final development test before the small…
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Photos: SpaceX cargo capsule returns to Southern California after space station mission
SpaceX technicians offloaded a Dragon cargo capsule from its recovery ship Thursday after returning the thrice-flown supply freighter to the Port of Los Angeles, marking the final planned return of a Dragon spacecraft to the West Coast. The cargo vehicle splashed down Tuesday, April 7, under parachutes in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Los Angeles…
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SpaceX plans another Starlink launch next week
A view of 60 Starlink satellites stacked before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of satellites for the Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as April 16, a sign that launch operations at Cape Canaveral could continue at a reduced pace amid the global coronavirus pandemic.…
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With successful splashdown, SpaceX retires first version of Dragon spacecraft
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule — flying on SpaceX’s CRS-20 mission — is seen berthed at the International Space Station in this photo taken March 24. Credit: NASA For the final time, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule was released from the International Space Station’s robotic arm Tuesday and splashed down hours later in Pacific Ocean southwest…
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Space companies rally to supply medical equipment amid pandemic
A “bridge ventilator” designed by Virgin Orbit. Credit: Virgin Orbit While production of rockets and satellites continues across much of the space industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, engineers at several space companies — including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and Blue Origin — have started working on medical devices and protective equipment in response to shortages in…
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Live coverage: Dragon supply ship departs space station
Live coverage of the departure of SpaceX’s Dragon supply ship from the International Space Station and its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean with several tons of experiment samples and cargo. SpaceX and NASA will not provide live video coverage of the splashdown. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page.…
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Boeing says it’ll redo uncrewed flight test of Starliner space taxi to space station
An artist’s conception shows Boeing’s Starliner space taxi in orbit. (Boeing Illustration) Boeing says it will redo the uncrewed test flight of its Starliner space taxi to the International Space Station, after months of reviewing what went wrong during a flight that fell short of the mark. NASA said it supported Boeing’s decision. Last December’s…