Tag: commercial-space
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Rockets purchased by Stratolaunch back under Northrop Grumman control
File photo of a Pegasus XL rocket inside the Building 1555 processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin Hardware for two air-dropped Pegasus XL launchers previously purchased by Stratolaunch, a space launch company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen, are now back under Northrop Grumman control and for sale to…
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Successful Proton launch deploys Eutelsat satellite, first Mission Extension Vehicle
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) with the resignation of Kirk Pysher as ILS president. A Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:17:56 a.m. EDT (1017:56 GMT) Wednesday. Credit: Roscosmos A Proton booster rocketed away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazaskhtan Wednesday…
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Live coverage: Proton rocket launches with two U.S.-built satellites
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Eutelsat 5 West B television broadcasting satellite and the first Mission Extension Vehicle satellite servicing spacecraft. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter. [tabby title=”ILS…
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Boeing reveals target dates for initial Starliner test flights
Boeing officials said Wednesday that the company is targeting Dec. 17 for the launch of the first unpiloted orbital test flight of the new Starliner crew capsule from Cape Canaveral on a week-long demonstration mission to the International Space Station, a precursor to a mission with astronauts next year. Meanwhile, engineers in the New Mexico…
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Boeing to invest $20M in Virgin Galactic, marking a milestone team-up in commercial space
Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity fires its rocket motor to head to the edge of space in 2018. (Virgin Galactic Photo) Boeing says it’s planning to invest $20 million in Virgin Galactic once it goes public, potentially unlocking a new level of synergy for commercial space travel. For Virgin Galactic, the deal will provide an extra…
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Satellite industry’s first robotic servicing mission ready for launch
The Proton rocket’s Breeze M upper stage, the MEV 1 satellite servicing spacecraft, and the Eutelsat 5 West B communications satellite (left to right) during launch processing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Credit: International Launch Services A pioneering Northrop Grumman-built satellite designed to dock with an aging spacecraft more than 22,000 miles above Earth,…
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NASA opens competition to build human-rated lunar landers
Artist’s illustration of a multi-stage human-rated lunar lander. Credit: NASA Companies have until Nov. 1 to submit proposals to NASA for a human-rated lander that could be ready in time to carry astronauts to the moon’s surface by the end of 2024, and the agency is leaving open the option for contractors to develop a…
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Hardware arrives in Florida for Crew Dragon in-flight abort test
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Oct. 4 to correct reference to SuperDraco abort engines. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft for the in-flight abort test inside a processing facility at Cape Canaveral. Credit: NASA/SpaceX Images taken inside SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral and released by NASA Thursday show the Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster assigned to an in-flight…
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Relativity scores $140 million funding round for smallsat launcher
Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone, co-founders of Relativity Space. Credit: Relativity Space Relativity Space says it has secured $140 million in new funding from venture capital firms and private investors, enough to carry the company’s 3D-printed small satellite launcher through its first orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in early 2021. The Series C fundraising round,…
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Intuitive Machines selects SpaceX to launch commercial lunar lander
Artist’s illustration of an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander during launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Intuitive Machines Intuitive Machines confirmed plans Wednesday to launch a commercial lunar lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Space Coast in 2021 on a mission to deliver multiple payloads to the moon, including up to…