Tag: Commercial Crew

SpaceX Receives Second Order for Commercial Crew Launch to ISS

SpaceX Receives Second Order for Commercial Crew Launch to ISS

Kennedy Space Center News Release July 29, 2016 RELEASE 16-080 NASA Orders Second SpaceX Crew Mission to International Space Station NASA took another important step Friday in returning U.S. astronaut launches from U.S. soil with the order of a second post-certification mission from commercial provider SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. Commercial crew flights from Florida’s Space […]

Posted in: NASA, SpaceX
SpaceX Carrying A Doorway to the Future in Dragon’s Trunk

SpaceX Carrying A Doorway to the Future in Dragon’s Trunk

After completing a successful static test fire on Saturday morning, SpaceX is ready to begin the countdown in earnest to Sunday evening’s planned launch of its Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-9 mission. And while the robust little spaceship will be loaded with nearly 5,000 lbs of research and support equipment for the orbiting outpost, none […]

Boeing CST-100 / Starliner Schedule Slip

Boeing CST-100 / Starliner Schedule Slip

SpaceX may now be in the pole position to be the first company to launch astronauts to orbit under NASA’s Commercial Crew contract. According to a report in GeekWire, Boeing has announced a slip, albeit a brief one, in its Starliner test schedule as the company works though several issues in getting its capsule ready […]

Virgin Galactic / Blue Origin Videos and Which Ticket Would You Buy?

Virgin Galactic / Blue Origin Videos and Which Ticket Would You Buy?

There is little doubt that SpaceX is for the moment in a class by itself in developing partially reusable orbital space transportation, but it is interesting to note that the company has had very little to say regarding what if any role it sees for space tourism in the products it is developing. The Dragon […]

With Shelby at the Helm, SLS/Orion Win Big Again, Science Suffers

With Shelby at the Helm, SLS/Orion Win Big Again, Science Suffers

[Author’s Note: Innerspace.net has been on limited release for the last week as I have taken time off to welcome a personal payload into the world, Nola Kate Money, born on 4/18/2016.  As the designated landing zone also happened to be in New Delhi, India, some concessions were simply inevitable.] Story: Although it might not […]

Posted in: NASA
Coaltion White Paper Calls for Stable Space Budgets, Funding SLS & Commercial Crew

Coaltion White Paper Calls for Stable Space Budgets, Funding SLS & Commercial Crew

In an election season pretty much devoid of serious discussion of space policy, if even for a moment, a coalition of space organizations has released a white paper titled “Ensuring U.S. Leadership in Space.” The event took place at a National Press Club Newsmaker news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The […]

Posted in: Congress, Space Policy
NASA Highlights Commercial Crew Progress

NASA Highlights Commercial Crew Progress

NASA’s Commercial Crew partners Boeing and SpaceX are continuing to make progress in testing their respective systems for flights which will begin next year. Yesterday, NASA’s featured image came from a drop test of Boeing’s Starliner capsule conducted at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The test, which took place in the facility’s 2o’ […]

NASA FY 2017 Budget Request

NASA FY 2017 Budget Request

First, the good news. We are long past the days when the release of an Administration’s budget request for NASA was the most reliable guidepost to what the future of space exploration might bring. On the other hand, we are nowhere close to the point where it is no longer relevant either. That being said, […]

Posted in: NASA
SpaceX Planning Dragon Re-Flight as well as Falcon Upgrades

SpaceX Planning Dragon Re-Flight as well as Falcon Upgrades

  A speech by SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell at the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation Conference yesterday revealed a number of details regarding the company’s plans for the next two years as well as some interesting, if decidedly vague results from studying its recently recovered rocket. Without going into specifics, Shotwell stated that based on the […]

Posted in: SpaceX
NASA Orders Second Starliner Mission to ISS

NASA Orders Second Starliner Mission to ISS

KSC Press Release: December 18, 2015 RELEASE 15-240 NASA Orders Second Boeing Crew Mission to International Space Station NASA took an important step Friday to establish regular crew missions that will launch from the United States to the International Space Station with the order of its second post-certification mission from Boeing Space Exploration of Houston. […]

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