Tag: Pegasus
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World’s largest airplane completes first flight
Stratolaunch’s rocket carrier jet, the largest in the world, took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port shortly after 7 a.m. PDT (10 a.m. EDT; 1400 GMT) Saturday. Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News Built for hauling rockets aloft to launch satellites, the world’s biggest airplane landed Saturday after a widely-anticipated test flight over California’s…
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Photos: Stratolaunch’s giant airplane flies over Mojave
Stratolaunch’s rocket carrier jet, the largest aircraft in the world by wing span, took off Saturday morning from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California for its first test flight. The twin-fuselage airplane took off at 6:58 a.m. PDT (9:58 a.m. EDT; 1358 GMT) Saturday and flew for nearly two-and-a-half hours, reaching a top…
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ICON resets for October launch from the East Coast
The Pegasus launch of NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) satellite is now set to take place on October 6. The launch has also been switched from the West to East coast for the realigned attempt after an issue was noticed during its ferry flight back in June. ICON is designed to study the frontier of…
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Pegasus ships latest SLS test article to NASA Marshall for key tests
After a week and a half long river trip on Pegasus, the second of four Core Stage structural test articles (STA) arrived at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to start final preparations for a series of structural tests planned to begin this Summer. The Space Launch System (SLS) Program completed construction of…
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Stratolaunch conducts high-speed taxi tests on giant carrier aircraft
Last weekend, Stratolaunch Systems performed high-speed taxi tests of the world’s largest aircraft by wingspan. The tests represent continued progress towards the maiden flight of the plane. The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft will serve as a mobile launch platform for rockets including Orbital ATK’s Pegasus XL. Stratolaunch was founded in 2011 by Microsoft co-founder Paul G.…
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Launch of NASA ionospheric probe delayed to examine rocket issue
The second and third stages of the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket are offloaded from a transport vehicle at Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the launch of NASA’s ICON satellite. Credit: NASA/Rodney Speed The launch of a NASA satellite to study the behavior of plasma in Earth’s ionosphere has been…
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Pegasus trip to Marshall for SLS engine section STA
As the facility continues repairs of tornado damaged infrastructure and looks to find workspace for displaced tenants, NASA, Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage prime contractor Boeing, and facility operations and maintenance contractor Syncom Space Services are ready to ship the first SLS hardware element from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, Louisiana…
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Pegasus launches CYGNSS constellation following Stargazer release
Orbital ATK’s Pegasus rocket finally launched on Thursday, carrying NASA’s CYGNSS environmental research satellite constellation into orbit. The air-launched rocket departed Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard its carrier aircraft ahead of its air-launch release at 08:37 Eastern time (13:37 UTC). Pegasus Launch: The Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System – or CYGNSS – is a…
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Video: Pegasus and CYGNSS pre-launch news conference
This is the pre-launch news conference for NASA’s CYGNSS hurricane research mission featuring a constellation of eight microsats launching Dec. 12 aboard an Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket off the Florida coast. Science briefing
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Video: Preview briefing on NASA’s CYGNSS mission to improve hurricane forecasting
Learn about the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System — NASA’s fleet of hurricane-tracking satellites — launching together on Dec. 12 from Cape Canaveral aboard a Pegasus rocket. The eight small satellites comprising the CYGNSS constellation will help improve hurricane intensity, track and storm surge forecasts. This NASA news conference held Nov. 10 details the CYGNSS…