Tag: DARPA
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Spaceflight preps for first launch of unique orbiting satellite deployers
Artist’s illustration of the SSO-A mission’s free flyers separating from the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Spaceflight Engineers working for Spaceflight, a Seattle-based launch services company, are in the final steps of preparing for the first launch of new robotic free flyers carrying more than 70 small government and commercial satellites into…
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Rapid-fire engine tests raise hopes for DARPA’s planned reusable spaceplane
The Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-22 engine is test-fired June 27 at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Credit: NASA A series of unprecedented back-to-back test-firings of a rocket engine originally developed for NASA’s space shuttle concluded earlier this month, giving engineers data crucial to achieving rapid 24-hour turnarounds planned for a U.S. military-funded reusable winged booster…
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Rocket engine scores ‘perfect 10’ in 10-day test for Phantom Express space plane
Aerojet Rocketdyne’s AR-22 rocket engine fires during a test at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. (NASA / DARPA Photo) A rocket engine built from spare space shuttle parts — and the team behind the engine — passed a grueling 10-day, 10-firing test that sets the stage for Boeing’s Phantom Express military space plane. “We scored…
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DARPA Launch Challenge offers $10M top prize for rapid-turnaround orbital liftoffs
The DARPA Launch Challenge is designed to provide more incentives for the development of flexible, responsive launch systems. (DARPA Illustration) COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Almost 15 years after a $10 million competition gave a boost to private-sector spaceflight, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is kicking off another launch contest with a $10 million grand…
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SpaceX’s most recent launch carried a secret military-funded experiment
Artist’s illustration of a Payload Orbital Delivery System accommodation on a Space Systems/Loral-built telecom satellite. Credit: SSL A previously-undisclosed payload funded by a U.S. military research agency rode into orbit with a Spanish communications satellite on SpaceX’s most recent Falcon 9 rocket launch March 6, officials said Friday. The small spacecraft was fastened inside the…
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Photos: Minotaur 4 blasts off from Cape Canaveral
A solid-fueled Minotaur 4 rocket lifted off early Saturday from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. military payload designed to monitor satellite traffic in geosynchronous orbit. Flying with repurposed rocket motors from the Air Force’s retired Peacekeeper missile, the Minotaur 4 launched from pad 46 at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT) with the ORS-5 satellite. It…
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U.S. military sleuth launched to track satellite and space debris movements
Credit: Orbital ATK Receiving a boost from a modified decades-old Peacekeeper missile originally built for nuclear war, a U.S. military space surveillance satellite streaked into space early Saturday from Cape Canaveral to help the Air Force track threats and debris in orbit. Running nearly three hours late after storms delayed final launch preparations, the eight-story…
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Video: Minotaur 4 launch replay
A Minotaur 4 rocket made up of five solid-fueled rocket motors delivered a U.S. military satellite tracking craft into an equatorial orbit early Saturday after lifting off from Cape Canaveral. The Minotaur 4 took off at 2:04 a.m. EDT (0604 GMT) from Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral, running nearly three hours late due to storms…
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Minotaur 4 launch timeline with the ORS-5 satellite
Track the major events during the Minotaur 4 rocket’s 28-minute climb into a unique equatorial orbit with the ORS-5 space surveillance satellite for the U.S. military’s Operationally Responsive Space office. Standing around eight stories tall, the five-stage rocket is set for liftoff during a four-hour launch window opening at 11:15 p.m. EDT Friday (0315 GMT)…
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Live coverage: Minotaur 4 rocket makes first launch from Cape Canaveral
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Orbital ATK Minotaur 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the ORS-5 space surveillance satellite. Orbital ATK’s live video coverage begins at approximately 10:55 p.m. EDT (0255 GMT). Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.…