Tag: United Launch Alliance
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Boeing-built X-37B space plane goes into orbit for shadowy Space Force test mission
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launched a Boeing-built X-37B space plane today on a semi-secret orbital mission under the management of the recently created Space Force. Today’s USSF-7 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 9:14 a.m. ET (6:14 a.m. PT), a day after the first attempt was called…
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ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket launches AEHF-6 satellite on Space Force’s first official orbital mission
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket launches the AEHF-6 military communications satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (ULA via YouTube) The first satellite mission conducted under the name of the U.S. Space Force got underway today with the launch of the AEHF-6 military communications satellite atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5…
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NASA invites public to vote on name for Mars 2020 rover
The Mars 2020 rover is seen during a drive test in December at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA has announced the nine finalists for the name of the space agency’s next Mars rover — scheduled for launch in July — and invited the public to vote on the candidates before…
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Boeing’s Starliner space taxi fails to reach its intended orbit for first space station trip
Boeing’s Starliner space taxi lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. (NASA Photo / Joel Kowsky) Boeing’s Starliner space taxi blasted off for the first time today on an uncrewed mission to the International Space Station, but ran into a problem that precluded a…
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Boeing’s Starliner space taxi — and Rosie the Rocketeer — meet up with their rocket
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner space taxi is transported out to United Launch Alliance’s vertical integration facility in Florida, where an Atlas 5 rocket is waiting. (ULA Photo) Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner space taxi was moved to its Florida launch complex and set atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket today in preparation for next month’s uncrewed test…
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ULA’s Vulcan rocket selected for launches of moon lander and mini-shuttle in 2021
An artist’s conception shows United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket lifting off. (ULA Illustration) United Launch Alliance’s next-generation Vulcan rocket – and Blue Origin’s next-generation BE-4 rocket engine – have been chosen to send Astrobotic’s Peregrine moon lander as well as Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser mini-shuttle to the final frontier in 2021. Neither of the…
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Blue Origin protests launch contract rules as it competes with SpaceX, ULA, Northrop Grumman
An artist’s conception shows Blue Origin’s future New Glenn rocket, which is currently due to have its first flight in 2021. (Blue Origin Illustration) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is protesting the rules of the game for awarding future national security launch contracts, while continuing to play against SpaceX, United Launch Alliance…
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A rush of rockets: SpaceX Falcon 9 puts Israel’s Amos-17 telecom satellite in orbit
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from its Florida launch pad. (SpaceX via YouTube) SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched a Boeing-built, Israeli telecommunications satellite called Amos-17 into geosynchronous transfer orbit today, adding to what’s shaping up as a largesse of liftoffs. The launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 7:23 p.m.…
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Blue Origin, ULA and Northrop Grumman weigh in on multibillion-dollar SpaceX rocket lawsuit
Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine, shown here during a test firing in Texas, is being developed for use on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as well as United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket. (Blue Origin Photo) Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture and subsidiaries of United Launch Alliance and Northrop Grumman are intervening in…
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Photos: Delta 4-Heavy blasts off from Vandenberg
The first of up to seven United Launch Alliance missions lifted off Jan. 19 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where a Delta 4-Heavy launcher fired into orbit with 2.1 million pounds of thrust from three hydrogen-fueled RS-68A main engines with a U.S. government spy satellite. The orange and white launcher, standing 233 feet…