It began with a historic berthing in LEO, and ended with the successful return to flight of a troubled booster steeped in anachronism. And right in the middle, the future emerged on a pillar of fire piercing a blue Pacific sky. To begin at the ending, the oft troubled Proton booster returned to flight Sunday […]
UPDATE: According to multiple sources, the CASSIOPE satellite and all secondary payloads have deployed successfully. By any standards, SpaceX has had an exceptional day. The inaugural flight of the new SpaceX Falcon 9 V1.1 began with an on-time liftoff at 9:00 AM PDT this morning. With no holds, or apparent issues of any sort, the […]
It is after all, just a test launch. But what a test launch it is. Whenever the Falcon 9 v1.1 finally lifts off from Vandenberg, Ca. it will carry much more than a 700 lb. satellite, (as well as a couple of cubesats) which got a bargain basement price for accepting an elevated level of […]
Why 39A Matters The ongoing fight over Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A has taken several interesting turns in the past week, beginning with a contentious House subcommittee hearing last Friday, and culminating in an email from Elon Musk published today in SpaceNews, which “calls the bluff” being put forward by Blue Origin and United Launch […]
According to a twitter update from Elon Musk, SpaceX is aiming for a two day launch window for the new Falcon 9 V1.1, beginning this Sunday, contingent on good weather at the Vandenberg, Ca. launch site. At the moment, the weather forecast appears to be quite favorable for the launch, , with clear skies and […]
SpaceX has released a new update, dated September 25th, which highlights the increased pace of production for both Dragon capsules, as well as Falcon 9 cores. In the above collage of Dragon craft, four are for CRS missions, and two are for Commercial Crew testing. Interestingly, the company highlights its Hawthorne factory’s capacity to produce […]
Yesterday, XCOR and United Launch Alliance announced a major milestone accomplishment in their joint project to develop a low cost, cryogenic propellant pump for upper stage applications. From the Joint XCOR / ULA Press Release: September 23rd, 2013, Mojave, California and Centennial, Colorado – XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced significant progress today in […]
Orbital Sciences posted the following update regarding the COTS D1 mission on Sunday; “Following the discovery of a data format discrepancy between an on-board International Space Station (ISS) navigation system and a similar system on Cygnus at around 1:30 a.m. this morning, today’s rendezvous with the station was postponed. At this time, NASA and Orbital […]
According to a tweet from Elon Musk Thursday evening, after a fully successful second static fire of the Falcon 9 v1.1, SpaceX is ready to begin launch preparations for a window at Vandenberg which opens “in 10 days.” If that holds, the launch could occur as early as Sunday, September 29th. Space.com reported earlier this week […]
Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares launch vehicle, carrying the Cygnus cargo vessel made an picture perfect liftoff this morning to mark the beginning of its COTS D1 Demonstration mission to the International Space Station. With good weather and no issues, the two stage Antares blasted off at 10:58 A.M. EDT from Pad-0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional […]
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