Archive for August, 2014

Northrop Grumman Announces its DARPA XS-1 SpacePlane Team
By 2014.08.20 0 Comments Read More →

Northrop Grumman Announces its DARPA XS-1 SpacePlane Team

Image Credit : Northrop Grumman 2014-08-19T12:00:00-0700 REDONDO BEACH, Calif. – Aug. 19, 2014 – Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) with Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic is developing a preliminary design and flight demonstration plan for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane XS-1 program. A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://media.globenewswire.com/noc/mediagallery.html?pkgid=27176. XS-1 […]

Posted in: Launch Vehicle Development
The Curious Case of SpaceX and Forbes’ Thompson Takedown
By 2014.08.18 3 Comments Read More →

The Curious Case of SpaceX and Forbes’ Thompson Takedown

Image Credit: SpaceX One of the most reliable outlets for attacks on SpaceX over the years has somewhat curiously been from Forbes, with a semi-regular stream of articles penned by Loren Thompson, a paid consultant for Lockheed Martin and other legacy aerospace companies. Ostensibly writing on behalf of the non-profit Lexington Institute where he is […]

Posted in: SpaceX
XCOR Holds “Wall Breaking” Ceremony in Midland, Texas
By 2014.08.15 0 Comments Read More →

XCOR Holds “Wall Breaking” Ceremony in Midland, Texas

XCOR held a “wall breaking” ceremony in Midland, Texas to commemorate the start of renovations to the hanger which will house the Lynx spaceplane. The complete press release is below. As an aside, is an actual race shaping up between XCOR and Virgin Galactic? Begin XCOR Press Release XCOR Breaking Down Walls with Midland – […]

Posted in: XCOR
Unvealing the Future: The SpaceX Falcon 9 Descent Video
By 2014.08.15 0 Comments Read More →

Unvealing the Future: The SpaceX Falcon 9 Descent Video

The future is being revealed one Youtube video at a time. Late yesterday, SpaceX released this chase plane video of the Falcon 9 first stage under controlled descent as it approaches the Atlantic Ocean at the end of the July 14 Orbcomm 2 launch. Regrettably, the camera operator attempts to refocus just as it nears […]

Posted in: Launch Vehicle Development, SpaceX
Crowdsourced Research Helps Indentify Interstellar Dust Particles
By 2014.08.14 0 Comments Read More →

Crowdsourced Research Helps Indentify Interstellar Dust Particles

NASA’s JPL has a news story about the the possible discovery of interstellar dust particles trapped in aerogel designed just for just that purpose and included aboard the appropriately named Stardust space probe. Stardust flew through the tail of the comet Wild 2 in 2004, returning its samples to Earth the next year in the […]

Posted in: Crowdsourcing Space Exploration, Space Science
Is Bigelow Today Where SpaceX Was in 2009?
By 2014.08.14 0 Comments Read More →

Is Bigelow Today Where SpaceX Was in 2009?

Image Credit : Bigelow Aerospace In many ways, the promise being offered by SpaceX in lowering the cost of access to orbital space is only one part of a much larger image,  one which we are still waiting to see come in to focus.  Standing every bit as critical to remaining in space, as the […]

Posted in: Space Stations
Swiss Space Systems Selects Canadian Test Range
By 2014.08.14 0 Comments Read More →

Swiss Space Systems Selects Canadian Test Range

SOAR Second Stage Space Plane Image Credit: Swiss Space Systems One of the most intriguing of a growing number of NewSpace companies targeting the small satellite launch market is Swiss Space Systems.  With its plans for 2/3 reusable launch system consisting of an Airbus 300 carrier plane, and unmanned fully re-usable SOAR rocket plane as […]

Posted in: Launch Vehicle Development
Gass Steps Down at ULA, Did SpaceX, RD-180 Play a Role?
By 2014.08.13 0 Comments Read More →

Gass Steps Down at ULA, Did SpaceX, RD-180 Play a Role?

Image Credit: SpaceFoundation.org A number of news stories over the last week have focused on SpaceX firing somewhere between 200 and 400 employees, and the lawsuit filed over California’s WARN act as a result. Now however, a more interesting story is unfolding regarding the departure of just a single employee, not from SpaceX, but from […]

Posted in: Uncategorized
Last ATV Docks With ISS
By 2014.08.12 0 Comments Read More →

Last ATV Docks With ISS

Image Credit: NASA TV The last of five European Space Agency ATV’s docked with the International Space Station earlier today.  One has to wonder whether Europe will ultimately regret terminating the ATV production line in favor of supporting NASA’s Space Launch System by providing a service module for the first and likely second SLS/Orion missions […]

Posted in: ISS
NASA’s Space Launch System Faces Possible 2017 Launch Delay, ARM Target Issues
By 2014.08.12 0 Comments Read More →

NASA’s Space Launch System Faces Possible 2017 Launch Delay, ARM Target Issues

A series of reports highlight the challenges NASA faces in making progress with its plans for the Space Launch System over the next ten years.  Only days days before SLS program manager Todd May told an audience at the annual Mars Society convention that the mega booster is still on track for a late 2017 […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA, SLS / Orion
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