The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center announced yesterday that it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with Space Exploration Technologies Corp., paving the way for the company to take the next steps along the pathway to entering the EELV business as outlined in the New Entrants Certification Guide which was introduced in October 2011. […]
The latest resupply mission to the International Space Station got off to a perfect start yesterday evening with the launch of an Ariane V rocket carrying the Automated Transfer Vehicle ATV-4, “Albert Einstein.” There is one more ATV planned for ISS, after which the European Space Agency will supply a modified version of the propulsion […]
Update: Following a scrub on Thursday due a problem with helium pressurization, the launch of the Delta IV carrying SatCom 5 has been reset for 8:37 p.m. EDT this evening. Original: After a stand down dating back to October 4th , a United Launch Alliance (Boeing) Delta IV is prepared to return to flight this […]
At 5:38 PM Wednesday evening, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the latest Global Positioning Satellite into orbit, augmenting the space based system which has become almost inextricably entwined in daily life. Following check out in orbit, the GPS IIF-4 will become the 31st operational spacecraft currently in the system. With most GPS satellites significantly exceeding their […]
Aviation Week is reporting that SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force are “days away” from finalizing details for a certification plan which would allow the company to compete for national security launches aboard its Falcon 9 V1.1 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Having already won two launch orders under the Air Force’s separate Orbital/Suborbital-3 (OPS-3) program, which […]
The GAO has released its annual Defense Acquisitions Assessment of Selected Weapons Programs report(PDF), and as usual, it portrays a defense establishment which seems to confirm President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s worst predictions. Among the gems where defense space programs are concerned, here are the winners, with the growth in current estimated total acquisition cost versus the original program estimates. […]
Monday saw the 1,800th launch of the Russian Soyuz booster, a rocket updated, but also still very recognizable, as an immediate successor to the radio guided R-7 ballistic missile which was first planned in 1953. The record-setting launch, conducted from the space launch facility at Baikonur in Kazakhstan, was carried out on the Soyuz-U variety of the venerable rocket, which boosted a Russian Progress freighter to the International Space Station. The […]
A report in Florida Today indicates that the State of Florida’s plan to secure a long-term commercial spaceport independent from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Air Force Eastern Test Range have been dealt a potentially serious blow. In a letter addressed to Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carrol, NASA rebuffed Florida’s request to transfer former state land, purchased by NASA in the […]
Following up on yesterday’s surprise announcement in Space News that the Air Force was setting aside 14 EELV class launch opportunities for competitive bidding starting in 2015, Aviation Week is reporting that a separate but related Air Force launch procurement effort, the Orbital/Suborbital (OSP-3) is making its first two awards to SpaceX. The OSP program is functioning both […]
Note: This replaces a prior post to reflect new information Space News is reporting that the Pentagon has decided to break the United Launch Alliance EELV monopoly, and open up the program to competition. Under the new plan, the Air Force is authorized to proceed with a block buy of “up to” 36 launch cores from current monopoly vendor United Launch Alliance, […]
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