Tag: Falcon Heavy
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SpaceX Manifest Takes Shape as Falcon Heavy Hardware Arrives at McGregor
A new Falcon booster has been installed on the test stand at SpaceX’s Rocket Development and Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. Based on the logos and hardware on the exterior of the booster, the stage has been identified as a Falcon Heavy side booster, slated to support the next flight of SpaceX’s heavy lift rocket…
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NASA satellite set to conclude successful green propellant demo mission
Artist’s concept of the Green Propellant Infusion Mission, or GPIM, satellite in orbit. Credit: NASA A NASA-funded satellite that launched last year on the third flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket has begun a sequence of thruster firings to begin falling out of orbit after successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of a non-toxic fuel that could…
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ULA and SpaceX win shares of future national security launches; Blue Origin loses out
The U.S. Space Force has given its stamp of approval to United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket, shown in the artist’s conception at left; and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, shown at right. (ULA Illustration for Vulcan / GeekWire Photo / Kevin Lisota for Falcon Heavy) The U.S. Space Force designated United Launch Alliance and SpaceX as…
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ULA, SpaceX win landmark multibillion-dollar launch agreements with Pentagon
Artist’s concept of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. Credit: ULA United Launch Alliance and SpaceX beat out Northrop Grumman and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin for billions of dollars in U.S. military rocket contracts, and will share the load in launching the Pentagon’s highest-priority national security space missions through 2027, officials announced Friday. ULA, the 50-50…
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Maxar making progress with Power and Propulsion Element for Gateway
Last year, NASA awarded Maxar Technologies the contract for the Power and Propulsion Element, the very first Lunar Gateway contract and, at the time, the first module scheduled to be launched. The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) acts as Gateway’s service module, providing solar electric propulsion for orbital adjustments, and electricity with its solar arrays. …
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Maxar making progress with Power and Propulsion Element for Gateway
Last year, NASA awarded Maxar Technologies the contract for the Power and Propulsion Element, the very first Lunar Gateway contract and, at the time, the first module scheduled to be launched. The Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) acts as Gateway’s service module, providing solar electric propulsion for orbital adjustments, and electricity with its solar arrays. …
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NASA signs Gateway habitat design contract with Northrop Grumman
Artist’s illustration of the Gateway’s PPE and HALO modules in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA NASA has signed a $187 million contract with Northrop Grumman to complete the preliminary design of a pressurized crew habitat for the planned Gateway mini-space station near the moon, and agency officials have discussed new details about plans to launch first…
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NASA plans to launch first two Gateway elements on same rocket
Artist’s illustration of the Gateway space station in lunar orbit. Credit: NASA Aiming to reduce risk and costs, NASA has decided to launch the first two modules of the Gateway station in lunar orbit on the same heavy-lift rocket in 2023, rather than fly them on separate rockets and dock them together in deep space,…
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Falcon Heavy set for design validation milestone before late 2020 launch
A Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on June 25, 2019. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky The U.S. Space Force expects to complete design validation on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket by July, ahead of the launch of the military’s first high-priority national security mission on the heavy-lifter late this year.…
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NASA picks SpaceX to deliver cargo to Gateway station in lunar orbit
Illustration of the SpaceX Dragon XL as it is deployed from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage in high Earth orbit on its way to the Gateway in lunar orbit. Credit: SpaceX NASA has selected SpaceX to deliver supplies to the planned Gateway mini-space station in lunar orbit using a new version of the Dragon cargo…