Tag: Kennedy Space Center
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Photos: SLS mobile launch platform rolls to pad 39B
The Space Launch System’s mobile launch platform approaches a fork in the crawlerway leading to launch pad 39B, in the background. Credit: NASA/Jamie Peer The towering structure to be used for liftoffs of NASA’s Space Launch System rolled from a construction site to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this week,…
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SLS mobile launch platform to go on the move this week
The Space Launch System’s mobile launch platform is pictured with a crawler-transporter during a lift procedure earlier this year. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett The mobile platform intended to carry NASA’s Space Launch System will trek to the mega-rocket’s launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Thursday, before heading inside the spaceport’s…
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NASA likely to relocate delayed Pegasus launch to Florida
A Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket, carried underneath a modified L-1011 airplane, departed Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 6 on the way to Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket and carrier jet returned to Vandenberg on June 8 after engineers encountered a technical problem with the launch vehicle during the…
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U.S. Air Force certifies Falcon Heavy rocket, awards launch contract
SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket blasts off from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 6. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now The successful maiden flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in February was enough for the U.S. Air Force to certify the huge booster to carry the military’s…
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SpaceX plans new facilities at KSC to support more launches, landings
Artist’s concept of SpaceX’s new launch and landing control center. Credit: SpaceX/NASA An airport-like viewing tower standing up to 30 stories tall is the centerpiece of SpaceX’s planned rocket refurbishment and operations base proposed for vacant land at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Information published in a draft environmental assessment prepared by KSC officials…
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Orbital ATK names new launcher, selects upper stage engine
Artist’s illustration of Orbital ATK’s proposed OmegA rocket. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s proposed rocket to answer the U.S. Air Force’s desire for two families of satellite launchers with U.S.-made propulsion systems will be named OmegA, and the company has selected the cryogenic Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine to power the vehicle’s upper stage, officials announced…
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Orbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13. Artist’s concept of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s bid to join the U.S. military’s roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident…
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NASA releases summary of investigation into SpaceX’s 2015 launch failure
NASA’s independent review team that investigated the destruction of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon supply ship shortly after liftoff in June 2015 concluded a design error led to the loss of more than two tons of provisions and equipment heading for the International Space Station. Engineers from NASA’s Launch Services Program, a group…
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National Space Council acts to streamline regulatory hurdles
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Vice President Mike Pence speaks Wednesday at the second meeting of the National Space Council. Credit: NASA The newly re-activated National Space Council is acting quickly to streamline convoluted regulatory requirements that frequently slow development of new commercial space initiatives, a shift in focus in keeping with the…
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White House emphasizes industry over science in Space Council appointments
Vice President Mike Pence visited a United Launch Alliance hangar Tuesday evening at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where a Delta 4-Heavy rocket is being readied for liftoff in July. Tory Bruno, ULA’s president and CEO, briefed Pence on the facility. Credit: Stephen Clark/Spaceflight Now A roster of representatives from the commercial space industry, astronauts,…