Tag: Wallops Island
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Peter Beck discusses Neutron development as maiden flight nears
Rocket Lab’s ambitious push to launch its Neutron medium-lift rocket before the end of the year is entering the home stretch, with CEO Sir Peter Beck telling NSF that his team is “literally sleeping in the factories” to meet the aggressive timeline. “We’ll be there on the last day of December until the last hour…
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Rocket Lab deploys two Capella radar satellites after launch from Virginia
Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher climbs away from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA/Patrick Black Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher delivered two all-weather radar Earth observation satellites into orbit for Capella Space Thursday night after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia, successfully completing the company’s second flight from the U.S. spaceport. Running five days…
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Faulty cable delays Antares launch 24 hours
The Antares rocket sits on launch pad 0A at Wallops Island, Virginia. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Orbital ATK launch managers have pushed back liftoff of an Antares rocket until Monday to replace a faulty cable on the booster’s launch pad in Virginia. The delay means the International Space Station crew will not receive the Cygnus supply…
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Re-engined Antares rocket completes ground test firing
Orbital ATK’s upgraded Antares rocket, featuring newly-built RD-181 main engines, completed a 30-second test firing on a launch pad on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on Tuesday. The hotfire test is a key step before the Antares rocket returns to flight in July, resuming cargo service to the International Space Station from Virginia. Working from a control…
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NASA quietly posts images of explosive Antares failure
Less than a week after publishing the results of an independent investigation into last year’s Antares rocket failure, NASA has released dramatic new photos of the catastrophic crash just after liftoff from Wallops Island, Virginia. The space agency posted a handful of photos of the failure shortly after the ill-fated Oct. 28, 2014, Antares launch,…
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Initial damage assessment shows Antares pad intact
An aerial view of the Wallops Island launch facilities taken by the Wallops Incident Response Team on Wednesday. Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach Initial inspections of the Antares rocket’s launch pad in Virginia revealed the facility escaped major damage after sustaining nearly a direct hit from the booster as it fell to the ground in flames seconds…
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First stage propulsion system is early focus of Antares investigation
The Antares rocket’s AJ26 engines are seen during the booster’s rollout to the launch pad at Wallops Island, Va. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky The first sign of failure during Tuesday’s doomed launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket from Virginia came from the booster’s first stage about 15 seconds after liftoff, according to engineers studying…
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An eyewitness account: Wallops Island is burning
First, you see the rocket sputter, then pause suspended in mid-air and crash back to Earth in a blinding ball of flame. If you still have your wits, you brace for the blast wave. More than 300 tons of expensive, finely-tuned hardware was just destroyed in startling fashion. Seconds tick by like minutes. Some people…
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Orbital Sciences hopes to quickly find cause of rocket failure
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS “SPACE PLACE” & USED WITH PERMISSION Orbital Sciences co-founder, chairman and CEO David Thompson. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls A day after an explosion that destroyed an Orbital Sciences Antares rocket carrying a space station cargo ship, company officials said Wednesday they hope to zero in on the likely cause of the mishap within…
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Orbital Sciences rocket, station cargo ship, lost in spectacular launch mishap
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS “SPACE PLACE” & USED WITH PERMISSION Updated after press briefing. Antares explodes moments after lifting off. Image: NASA TV An Orbital Sciences Corp. Antares rocket making only its fifth flight exploded seconds after launch from the Virginia coast Tuesday, erupting in a spectacular fireball and destroying an uncrewed Cygnus cargo ship in…