Somewhere, Robert A. Heinlein is smiling. Check that, he is more likely roaring with delight that at long last, a privately developed rocket has been successfully re-flown in an orbital flight. That the most recent mission took place from a government owned launchpad that is practically a shrine to taxpayer funded frustration in the […]
As SpaceX is making the final touches on launchpad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in advance of its upcoming inaugural flight from that historic venue, a Washington Post article centers on blade cracks in the Falcon 9 rocket’s turbo-pumps. The piece, written by Andy Pasztor goes under the scary headline Congressional Investigators Warn of SpaceX […]
After working through a four month stand-down as it sought to understand and address the cause of the September 1st, 2016 explosion that destroyed a Falcon 9 booster and its payload during a pre-launch wet dress rehearsal at Cape Canaveral, SpaceX returned to flight in typically dramatic fashion on Saturday, successfully launching 10 Iridium Next […]
Although SpaceX has yet to make an official announcement, it appears that the company’s return to flight following the September 1st ‘anomaly’ that destroyed a Falcon 9 at Cape Canaveral will come in less than two weeks, on December 16th. The news came via a press release from Iridium Communications, which confirms that SpaceX will […]
It may not have a reusable rocket, or even the prospect of one, but that doesn’t mean United Launch Alliance isn’t without a few advantages of its own in competing for commercial launch orders. On Wednesday, ULA introduced a new website, called RocketBuilder.com, meant to highlight its newfound commitment to transparency, lowering launch prices and becoming […]
After an exhaustive investigation, one which company founder Elon Musk said is “the toughest puzzle to solve that we’ve ever had to solve,” SpaceX has positively identified the cause of a September 1st pre-flight test that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its Amos-6 payload. Confirmation came from Musk via a wide-ranging Friday interview on […]
SpaceX is facing a potential roadblock in its path to sending astronauts to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew program. Yesterday, Lt. Gen. Tom Stafford, a veteran astronaut who flew during the Gemini and Apollo eras, and who happens to be chair of the ISS Oversight Panel, an independent safety committee […]
Late last week, SpaceX released a new update regarding the ‘anomaly’ which destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its satellite payload during pre-flight testing on September 1st. It is included in its entirety below. As suggested by previous updates, as well as comments both on and off the record from company officials, the overall cause […]
One of the most appealing aspects of writing about space, and NewSpace in particular, is that for the most part, the news and the stories are positive. We are fortunate enough to be living in an era when there are breakthroughs or discoveries being made on almost a weekly basis. It leads to a general […]
With the highly anticipated introduction of its next generation super heavy lift launch system just days away, SpaceX has shed a little more light on what went badly wrong with its current Falcon 9 workhorse during pre-launch preparations for the Amos-6 satellite mission three weeks ago. In an anomaly update posted to its website on […]
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