Tag: Pegasus
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Launch Preview: Swift rescue mission, final Atlas satellite launch
Several orbital launches are scheduled worldwide this week. A mission to rescue the Swift observatory spacecraft is planned along with the first full flight of a South Korean military launcher. This week could also see the final satellite launch by an Atlas family rocket. There is also an Electron launch from New Zealand. The Swift…
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Pegasus XL set to air launch Swift Boost Mission to save NASA space telescope
In its first mission since 2021, a Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled to be air-launched from the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar Stargazer. Riding aboard Pegasus XL is NASA’s Swift Boost Mission, a mission utilizing a robotic servicing spacecraft from Katalyst Space Technologies to raise, or “boost,” the orbital altitude of NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.…
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Artemis III core stage assembly arrives at the Kennedy Space Center
Nearly one month after Artemis II’s historic launch with four astronauts flying by the Moon, processing for the next Artemis flight is making progress in advance of its scheduled 2027 flight. The core stage assembly – not including the engine section – for Artemis III arrived at the turn basin at the Kennedy Space Center…
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Pegasus XL rocket successfully launches Tactically Responsive Launch demo for Space Force
Northrop Grumman’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket made a low-profile launch for the US Space Force Sunday, in a mission designed to demonstrate the ability to call up and conduct a launch at short notice. The launch occurred off the coast of California during a six-minute window that opened at 01:09 PDT (08:09 UTC). The mission…
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Northrop Grumman’s Pegasus rocket selected for responsive launch demo
A Pegasus rocket underneath its L-1011 carrier jet takes off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, before a 2013 launch. Credit: NASA The U.S. Space Force is planning for an airborne launch of a solid-fueled Pegasus rocket over the Pacific Ocean by early summer after quietly awarding Northrop Grumman a contract for the mission last…
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Rockets purchased by Stratolaunch back under Northrop Grumman control
File photo of a Pegasus XL rocket inside the Building 1555 processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin Hardware for two air-dropped Pegasus XL launchers previously purchased by Stratolaunch, a space launch company founded by the late billionaire Paul Allen, are now back under Northrop Grumman control and for sale to…
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NASA’s ICON mission launches on Northrop Grumman Pegasus XL rocket
Northrop Grumman has launched NASA’s ICON mission aboard its Pegasus XL rocket on Thursday following a lengthy standdown that began during the initial attempt last November when an electrical short scrubbed the mission. The air-drop launch of Pegasus XL from underneath the L-1011 Stargazer aircraft occurred at 22:00 EDT (0200 UTC), 50-100 miles east of…
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NASA SLS Core Stage shipping and handling practice moves from Stennis to KSC
NASA and its contractors recently completed a dress rehearsal of shipping the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where technicians practiced lifting a full-scale replica and placing it in the B-2 Test Stand where the real stage will…
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NASA SLS Core Stage shipping and handling practice moves from Stennis to KSC
NASA and its contractors recently completed a dress rehearsal of shipping the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where technicians practiced lifting a full-scale replica and placing it in the B-2 Test Stand where the real stage will…
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As Ball completes design review for IXPE, SpaceX launch contract points to growing mission profiles
NASA’s award to SpaceX for the launch contract for their future X-ray telescope, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), points to SpaceX’s growing launch profile options for customers. This spacecraft would normally be a Pegasus mission due to its orbital requirements. However, SpaceX offered the capability via Falcon 9 and at a lower cost. IXPE…