Tag: commercial-space
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Proton launch provider ILS embraces closer relationship with Roscosmos
Structures, tanks and booster engines for a Russian Proton rocket inside the factory of Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center near Moscow. Credit: Khrunichev International Launch Services, facing headwinds in a commercial launch market now largely shaped by billionaires and satellite miniaturization, has touted a new relationship with the Russian space agency and Glavkosmos…
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SpaceX postpones Starlink launch to update satellite software
A Falcon 9 rocket stands vertical at pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during a scrubbed launch attempt Wednesday night. Credit: SpaceX For the second consecutive day, SpaceX called off a Falcon 9 launch attempt at Cape Canaveral on Thursday evening, this time to complete a software update on the first 60 satellites…
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NASA taps Blue Origin and 10 other companies to work on moon lander studies and prototypes
An artist’s conception shows a landing system in lunar orbit. (NASA Illustration) It’s almost as if Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos knew what was coming: His Blue Origin space venture is among 11 companies selected by NASA to conduct studies and produce prototypes of spacecraft that could carry astronauts down to the moon’s south polar region…
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SpaceX releases new details on Starlink satellite design
The mission patch for SpaceX’s first dedicated launch for the Starlink network. Credit: SpaceX The 60 satellites SpaceX is set to launch Wednesday night, beginning the build-out of a broadband network of orbiting spacecraft that could eventually number thousands, are based on a new flat-panel design, with krypton-fueled plasma thrusters, high-power antennas, and a capability…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX’s live video webcast begins around 15 minutes prior to launch, and will be available on this page.
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Falcon 9 launch timeline for the Starlink 1 mission
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated to reflect new launch attempt May 23. Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket’s ascent to orbit 60 satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Thursday during a 90-minute opening at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT Friday) from the Complex 40 launch pad at…
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Falcon 9 rocket rolled out for first dedicated Starlink launch
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated after static fire. File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad in September 2018. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX ground teams at Cape Canaveral transferred a Falcon 9 rocket to launch pad 40 and rotated the booster vertical Monday for a preflight hold-down firing, ahead of a liftoff…
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NASA, ULA find launch opportunity for inflatable heat shield demonstrator
Artist’s illustration of the the Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, spacecraft. Credit: NASA A flight demonstration of an inflatable heat shield that could be used to retrieve reusable engines from United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket, and for the delivery of heavier cargo to the surface of Mars, is…
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Trump adds $1.6 billion to NASA budget request to kick start ‘Artemis’ moon mission
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s illustration of a lunar lander. Credit: NASA The Trump administration is adding an additional $1.6 billion to NASA’s $21 billion 2020 budget request to kick start plans to return American astronauts to the moon in 2024, four years earlier than previously planned, NASA announced Monday. In a…
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Virgin Galactic to move remaining SpaceShipTwo test flights to New Mexico
Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier jet, which hoists the company’s rocket plane aloft, pictured at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Credit: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic will conduct the remaining test flights for the company’s SpaceShipTwo suborbital rocket plane from southern New Mexico after moving staff and equipment from California over the next few months, officials announced…