Tag: commercial-space
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Falcon Heavy to flex muscles on demanding demo launch for U.S. Air Force
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is lifted inside the hangar at launch pad 39A during final assembly. Credit: SpaceX On its third flight Monday night, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket will fly to three different orbits with two dozen spacecraft on a mission set to last more than six hours, prompting SpaceX founder Elon Musk to declare…
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Live coverage: Ariane 5 successful in dual-payload launch from French Guiana
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Ariane 5 rocket with the AT&T T-16 and Eutelsat 7C communication satellites. 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 before launch and will be available on this page.
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Firefly offering free launch for research and educational payloads
Firefly Aerospace conducted a 300-second qualification firing of the Alpha rocket’s complete second stage in April at the company’s test site in Central Texas. Credit: Firefly Aerospace Firefly Aerospace is asking academic institutions, startup companies and the public to submit ideas for payloads to launch, free of charge, on the inaugural orbital flight of the…
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Live coverage: Falcon Heavy engines test-fired for launch next week
Live coverage of SpaceX’s preparations for the launch of a Falcon Heavy rocket from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with the U.S. Air Force’s STP-2 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Spaceflight Now Members can watch a live view of the launch pad. Become a member and support our…
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Rocket Lab’s next launch will loft cluster of satellites on Spaceflight rideshare
The BlackSky Global 3 Earth-imaging satellite is the largest of seven spacecraft slated to launch on Rocket Lab’s sixth mission. Credit: Rocket Lab Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand is set for no earlier than June 27 with a bundle of spacecraft including a commercial Earth-observing microsatellite for BlackSky, two CubeSats for U.S. Special…
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Viasat swaps Ariane 5 launch for new Ariane 6 rocket
Artist’s concept of an Ariane 64 rocket, the Ariane 6 configuration with four strap-on solid rocket boosters. Credit: ArianeGroup Viasat has modified an existing contract with Arianespace to launch one of the company’s next-generation broadband Internet satellites on Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, rather than on-board an Ariane 5 launcher, officials announced Monday. The agreement…
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Bigelow announces plans for private astronaut flights to space station
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (foreground) and Doug Hurley (background) train in a Crew Dragon simulator for their flight to the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX/NASA Bigelow Space Operations says it will charge $52 million per seat to send private astronauts to the International Space Station aboard Crew Dragon ferry ships, and has already paid “substantial…
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Newly-launched Russian telecom satellite relying on backup thrusters
The Yamal 601 communications satellite during final assembly and testing at Thales Alenia Space’s facility in Cannes, France. Credit: Thales Alenia Space A French-built communications satellite for Russia’s Gazprom Space Systems launched May 30 is maneuvering toward its final operating location in geostationary orbit using a set of backup thrusters after the spacecraft encountered a…
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NASA finally gets down to the business of commercializing space station operations
As a joke, NASA spacewalker Dale Gardner holds up a “For Sale” sign during a shuttle mission in 1984, during a time when the space shuttle fleet took on commercial satellite servicing tasks. (NASA Photo) NASA today laid out its initial batch of ground rules for future commercial activities on the International Space Station, including…
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NASA unveils plans to commercialize low Earth orbit
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The International Space Station. Credit: NASA/Roscosmos NASA unveiled an ambitious program Friday to commercialize low-Earth orbit, making way for product development and even advertising aboard the International Space Station, month-long visits by company astronauts starting as early as next year and use of a station docking port for…