Tag: ISS
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Axiom-3 launches multinational crew to orbit on way to ISS
The private Axiom-3 mission to the International Space Station is now in orbit after a successful launch from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The mission features a crew representing five different countries, four of them wholly or partly in Europe. Falcon 9 B1080-5 and Crew Dragon C212 Freedom were scheduled to launch from Pad…
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Launch Roundup: Axiom-3 crew and Tianzhou 7 cargo space station missions this week
A pair of missions to space stations headline the launches for the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 17. Axiom-3 will be flying four private astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), becoming the first crew launch of 2024. Crew Dragon Freedom will fly from Florida, with a multinational crew, for a mission to the…
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Launch Roundup: Axiom-3 crew and Tianzhou 7 cargo space station missions this week
A pair of missions to space stations headline the launches for the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 17. Axiom-3 will be flying four private astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), becoming the first crew launch of 2024. Crew Dragon Freedom will fly from Florida, with a multinational crew, for a mission to the…
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ISS Roundup: 25 year anniversary, spacewalks, cargo arrivals and departures
The final quarter of 2023 saw the International Space Station (ISS) celebrate 25 years in orbit, though there was no letup in the ongoing work as the Expedition 70 crew settled into the tasks and experiments that are carried out onboard the orbital laboratory. Cargo spacecraft arrived at the Station carrying supplies and fresh experiments…
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Laser communication: the future of communicating in space
Laser communications, an ever so important factor for the future of space exploration, has seen some important steps forward recently. Two test missions are on the way to provide important information, and a third one is planned for next year. The Integrated LCRD LEO User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T), which flew to the International…
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SpaceX Successfully Launches Cargo Dragon Mission to the International Space Station
SpaceX achieved another milestone on November 9 with the successful launch of a cargo Dragon mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 8:28 p.m. Eastern, carrying the CRS-29 cargo Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Dragon is set to autonomously dock with the ISS around…
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First Dream Chaser Vehicle Ready for Final Testing
After years of work, Sierra Space’s first Dream Chaser reusable spaceplane is almost ready to fly. The vehicle’s next step is a trip to NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Ohio ahead of its first launch at the Kennedy Space Center currently scheduled for no earlier than March 2024. NSF was invited as part…
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ISS Roundup: Expedition 70 underway, Rubio’s record stay in space, technical issues, completed EVAs
The last few months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been eventful. Expedition 70 is underway after two crew handovers, a bearing on a solar array rotary joint seized up, and a coolant leak on the Russian segment occurred. Currently, the ISS crew has completed Russian EVA-61, although key objectives were not fully accomplished,…
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Boeing confident in achieving six flights to the ISS despite Starliner delay
Boeing’s Starliner Crewed Flight Test (CFT) which will carry astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) is now delayed to next year, with the earliest chance for launch in March. However, Boeing is still confident it will complete the six crewed flights ordered by NASA despite the planned…
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A flawless Cygnus launch brings eras to a close
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va.—I had been told that rocket launches are a physical experience, that the carefully controlled explosions that send payloads to space create waves of sound intense enough to be felt from over a mile away. But my first close-up experience with a launch involved the relatively small Electron rocket, and that left me…