UK-launched rocket promises to transform microsatellite launch business

A full scale-prototype of Orbex’s Prime launcher. Credit: Orbex The first launch of the Orbex Prime ‘eco-rocket’ from a remote launch pad in the Highlands of Scotland is expected at the end of the year or in early 2023. A full-scale prototype of Prime, billed as the world’s most environmentally-friendly rocket, was unveiled to the public for the first time this month. Orbex Prime, a joint venture between the UK and Denmark, is the first...

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SpaceX launches fifth Transporter rideshare mission

A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on the Transporter 5 mission. Credit: Michael Cain / Spaceflight Now / Coldlife Photography SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday packed with 59 small satellites and research experiments, including an innovative commercial water-propelled orbital transfer vehicle from Momentus and a pair of NASA tech demos testing laser communications and proximity operations. Loaded to the brim with scientific and commercial payloads,...

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Comment on Transporter-4 Kicks Off Ambitious April for SpaceX by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] afternoon’s launch was the eight-times-flown B1061, a booster last used barely eight weeks ago for the April Fool’s Day mission of Transporter-4. That flight delivered around 40 small payloads representing a dozen sovereign nations into orbit, […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/gentckL via World Space In...

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Comment on SpaceX Launches Next Starlink Batch, Heads Into Multi-Mission May by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] log a 12th launch, which rose from historic Pad 39A at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and delivered 53 Starlink internet communications satellites to low-Earth orbit on 6 May. Then came a spectacular salvo of three launches within a five-day period, as five-times-flown […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/KmyI9S6 via World Space In...

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NASA plans Artemis 1 moon rocket retest around June 19

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Inside the VAB the Artemis 1 vehicle is being readied for a return to launch pad 39B and another attempt to complete a crucial pre-flight fueling test. Photo: NASA. NASA plans to haul its huge Space Launch System moon rocket back to the launch pad June 5-6 for a fourth attempt to load it with 730,000 gallons of supercold propellants in a dress-rehearsal countdown to clear the way for...

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Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft lands in New Mexico after successful test flight

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft descends toward landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft parachuted to a “picture perfect” landing in southern New Mexico Wednesday, capping a six-day test flight to the International Space Station that NASA’s commercial crew program manager said paves the way for the next Starliner mission to carry astronauts. The crew capsule touched down at White...

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Comment on SpaceX Completes Third Mission in Four Days, Pushes Starlink Count Towards 2,100 by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] Her people-hauling duties over, B1061 settled last summer into a more regular routine as a payload-lifter. She launched SiriusXM’s heavyweight SXM-8 broadcasting satellite last June, SpaceX’s CRS-23 Cargo Dragon to the ISS last August, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) last December and a 49-strong batch of Starlink low-orbiting internet communications satellites in February. […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/HIGPwm7 via World Space In...

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Comment on SpaceX Launches NASA’s Crew-4 to Space Station by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] calendar month, achieve a new Falcon 9 turnaround record and execute a pair of Crew Dragon flights to the International Space Station (ISS)—it seemed that the bar had been set very high for May. But the challenge was met in style. No […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/fp2iXet via World Space In...

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Comment on SpaceX Flies IXPE, Third Back-to-Back Night Launch from Space Coast by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] CRS-23 Cargo Dragon to the ISS last August, NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) last December and a 49-strong batch of Starlink low-orbiting internet communications satellites in […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/1ZBiAGX via World Space In...

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SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May

@SpaceX has wrapped up a 5-flight month of May, capping 4 back-to-back Starlink launches with the multi-payload Transporter-5 mission. The post SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/ArTmonX via World Space In...

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Comment on SpaceX Scores Sixth Launch of April, Achieves Turnaround Record by SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Rideshare , Wraps Up Multi-Mission May - AmericaSpace

[…] a spectacular April—which saw the Hawthorne, Calif.-headquartered organization fly six times in a single calendar month,… and execute a pair of Crew Dragon flights to the International Space Station (ISS)—it seemed that […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/MTpbH7U via World Space In...

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Live coverage: Boeing’s Starliner capsule returning to Earth today

Live coverage of the unpiloted test flight of Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule on the Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. NASA TV Archived Launch Coverage from Spaceflight Now https://ift.tt/6x0ZmVl via World Space In...

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Live coverage: SpaceX rideshare launch on tap today, followed by booster landing

Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Transporter 5 mission will launch 59 small payloads from customers around the world. Follow us on Twitter. SpaceX Webcast Fifty-nine small satellites and hosted experiments are awaiting launch Wednesday at 2:27 p.m. EDT (1827 GMT) from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The...

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Starliner spacecraft cleared for undocking and re-entry

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA Astronauts on the International Space Station closed the hatch to Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft Tuesday, and ground teams used the lab’s robotic arm to inspect the capsule’s heat shield to clear the vehicle for undocking Wednesday and return to Earth for a late afternoon landing in New Mexico. The Boeing-owned spacecraft launched last Thursday and docked at the...

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Nanoracks experiment poised to demonstrate metal cutting in orbit

The Outpost Mars Demo-1 payload ready for launch on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare mission. Credit: Nanoracks Nanoracks will fly an experiment with a small articulating robot arm on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare mission this week to demonstrate metal cutting in orbit, a test lasting just minutes that could advance in-space manufacturing technology to help convert used rocket stages into space habitats. The Outpost Mars Demo-1 experiment is...

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SpaceX swapping heat shield for next crew flight due to ‘manufacturing defect’

SpaceX’s Dragon Endurance spacecraft after splashdown May 6, with its heat shield displayed toward the camera. Credit: NASA/Aubrey Gemignani SpaceX’s next crew mission to the International Space Station, set for launch in September, will fly with a different heat shield structure than originally planned after a composite substrate failed in acceptance testing due to a “manufacturing defect,” NASA said Tuesday. The heat shield’s 13-foot-diameter...

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China launches three communications test satellites

A Chinese Long March 2C rocket lifts off May 20 with three communications test satellites. Credit: CASC A two-stage Chinese Long March 2C rocket launched Friday and delivered three communications test satellites into an orbit about 550 miles (880 kilometers) above Earth. The Long March 2C rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan launch base in the Gobi Desert of northwestern China at 6:30 a.m. EDT (1030 GMT) Friday, according to the China Aerospace Science...

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Comment on “Pretty Good Oscillations”: Remembering Aurora 7, 60 Years On (Part 2) by Mary Kanian

While I was a teenager in that era & remember these first flights with the confidence that America could pull it all off with expertise & certainty of outcome, your SPLENDID & CANDID storytelling reveal that spaceflight…for all the pre-planning that went into it…was NEVER A CERTAINTY and there were always “surprises” & disaster stalking each & every mission & accomplishment. Ben Evans, you have a tremendous gift for writing and bringing these stories to life with a “you are there”…looking over their shoulders & capturing...

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Comment on “I Am Weightless”: Remembering Aurora 7, 60 Years On (Part 1) by “Pretty Good Oscillations”: Remembering Aurora 7, 60 Years On (Part 2) - AmericaSpace

[…] mission: astronomical observations, visibility and flying evaluations and medical checks. Sadly, as outlined in yesterday’s AmericaSpace history article, Carpenter’s five-hour, three-orbit mission suffered from severe technical problems, including a […] from Comments for AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/DSftmeI via World Space In...

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“Pretty Good Oscillations”: Remembering Aurora 7, 60 Years On (Part 2)

60 years ago today, America launched its 2nd man into orbit. But the mission of Aurora 7 almost cost Scott Carpenter his life. The post “Pretty Good Oscillations”: Remembering Aurora 7, 60 Years On (Part 2) first appeared on AmericaSpace. from AmericaSpace https://ift.tt/wgBNd4Q via World Space In...

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Launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission delayed to late September

Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, visits the Psyche spacecraft undergoing processing May 19 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA-JPL/Wes Kuykendall The launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission, which was set for Aug. 1 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, has been delayed to no earlier than Sept. 20 after ground teams discovered an issue during software testing on the spacecraft, officials said Monday. The robotic asteroid explorer...

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Russian spy satellite launched by Soyuz rocket

 A classified mapping satellite rode a Soyuz rocket into space Thursday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, the fifth space mission of the year to deploy a Russian military payload in orbit. The Russian military satellite launched at 4:03 a.m. EDT (0803 GMT) Thursday from Plesetsk, a military spaceport about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow in Arkhangelsk Oblast. A Soyuz-2.1a rocket began its vertical climb away from Plesetsk with nearly a million pounds of thrust from kerosene-fueled engines, then headed north to target a polar orbit...

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Space station astronauts check out Starliner crew capsule

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, Russian cosmonaut Denis Matveev, and astronaut Bob Hines inside the Starliner spacecraft docked at the International Space Station. The instrumented mannequin, “Rosie the Rocketeer,” is in the commander’s seat wearing a Boeing spacesuit. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now Astronauts on the International Space Station floated into Boeing’s Starliner capsule Saturday, becoming the first people to enter the spacecraft...

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