Archive for November, 2015

Blue Origin, SpaceX and Embracing the RLV Revolution

Blue Origin, SpaceX and Embracing the RLV Revolution

Opinion “On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, at the Dawn of Victory, sat down to wait, and waiting–died.”  -George W. Cecil On November 23rd, Blue Origin joined SpaceX as the second American company to demonstrate vertical landing capability for a human scaled launch vehicle.  Flying out of its West Texas […]

Posted in: Blue Origin
SpaceX Receives Commercial Crew Order

SpaceX Receives Commercial Crew Order

KSC News Release: “NASA took a significant step Friday toward expanding research opportunities aboard the International Space Station with its first mission order from Hawthorne, California based-company SpaceX to launch astronauts from U.S. soil. This is the second in a series of four guaranteed orders NASA will make under the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) […]

Posted in: SpaceX
ULA Introduces Cubesat Launch Program

ULA Introduces Cubesat Launch Program

Standing in the foyer of the Colorado state capitol earlier today, United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno introduced a new cubesat launch program aimed at promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education at the university level. Beginning in 2017, ULA will mount a dedicated cubesat launcher on the Aft Bulkead Carrier of the Atlas […]

Stratolaunching to Nowhere : Update

Stratolaunching to Nowhere : Update

  To loosely paraphrase Khan Noonien Sing (the real one) Stratolaunch may no as wounded as the Wall Street Journal led us to believe. Here is a statement sent to Spacenews from Vulcan Aerospace made in response to yesterday’s story : Vulcan Aerospace remains steadfast in its mission to transform space transportation to low-Earth orbit […]

Posted in: Stratolaunch
ULA Takes Its Ball and Goes Home

ULA Takes Its Ball and Goes Home

As threatened, United Launch Alliance declined to turn in a bid for the first openly competed national security space launch in more than a decade. Here is the statement from ULA: “ULA wants nothing more than to compete, but unfortunately we are unable to submit a compliant bid for GPS III-X launch services. The RFP […]

SpaceX Completes SuperDraco Testing

SpaceX Completes SuperDraco Testing

NASA announced earlier this week through its Commercial Crew Blog that SpaceX has completed testing of SuperDraco propulsion system. “The propulsion system SpaceX would use to power its Crew Dragon out of danger has been test-fired 27 times as the company refines the design for the demands of operational missions carrying astronauts to the International […]

Posted in: SpaceX
New Worlds in Far Away Places

New Worlds in Far Away Places

Two new discoveries, one at the farthest boundary of our solar system, and one orbiting a dim star 39 light years add to a remarkable week of planetary news. First up is V774101, a 300-600 mile diameter world discovered orbiting at a distance 3 times further out than Pluto, and 103 times further than Earth […]

New Horizons Discovers Cryovolanoes on Pluto

New Horizons Discovers Cryovolanoes on Pluto

Cryovolcanoes. It sounds like the title to yet another of the Syfy Channel’s horrendous Saturday night movies. Instead, it is only one of a stunning series of discoveries taken from the agonizingly slow (4 kilobits per second) stream of data being transmitted by the New Horizons spacecraft as it speeds away from the Pluto-Charon system. […]

Posted in: Outer Planets
NASA’s Boeing Bounce Lifts Dream Chaser, Sets the Stage for ISS Budget Battles

NASA’s Boeing Bounce Lifts Dream Chaser, Sets the Stage for ISS Budget Battles

After media speculation that an announcement could have been forthcoming on Thursday, NASA’s oft delayed Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract has been pushed back once again. The new deadline, according to the story in Space News, is now no later than January 30th, 2016, and comes because the space agency needed “to allow additional time […]

Strypi Not So Super: Debut of DOD Small Launcher Fails

Strypi Not So Super: Debut of DOD Small Launcher Fails

Perched on its launch rail, the USAF Super Strypi rocket looked more like a typical Estes model rocket many might have build and launched as kids. Unfortunately for the Air Force and the much beleaguered Operationally Responsive Space Launch Office that oversaw yesterday’s launch from Hawaii, the results were pretty much the same. Liftoff of […]

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