Michal Gass, Former President and CEO of United Launch Alliance Following up on questions posed in a letter by U.S. Senator John McCain to the US Air Force chief of acquisitions, Reuters has been looking closer into the United Launch Alliance RD-180 issue, and the mysterious five person company RD-Amross, which serves as the Russian […]
A NASA press release issued on Friday outlines ongoing progress in the Commercial Crew program. Of particular note, Blue Origin and NASA agreed to a further three unfunded milestones as part of its CCDev-2 contract. While it is still almost impossible to write anything about the Jeff Bezos venture without falling back on the word […]
After a delay of 24 hours due to bad weather, NASA is preparing to move the Orion spacecraft mounted aboard a Delta Heavy rocket to SLC-37 this evening. The launch, which will test Orion’s heat shield and basic systems, is scheduled for December 4th. Meanwhile, an article in Scientific American adds to the growing criticism […]
An update to Monday’s story regarding the Wall Street Journal report that Elon Musk and Greg Wyler are going into the satellite manufacturing business. Info comes via Musk’s Twitter account, and includes a slap down on WSJ reporting. SpaceX is still in the early stages of developing advanced micro-satellites operating in large formations. Announcement in […]
Will Cygnus be on the Manifest? Image Credit SpaceX One week after the loss of an Antares launch vehicle carrying a Cygnus cargo vessel bound for the International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corporation held a conference call with investors to discuss what it has learned about the accident thus far, and its plans for going […]
Tuesday’s loss of the Orbital Sciences Antares booster carrying a Cygnus cargo vessel to the International Space Station, a failure of space hardware, is also bringing more attention to matters of space policy, where the news is both good and bad. To begin with, the explosion of the Antares rocket only six seconds into flight, […]
100: Image Credit SpaceX SpaceX has announced via website update a milestone in the production of its Merlin 1D engine. “Less than two years after SpaceX began producing the Merlin 1D engines that power the Falcon 9 rocket, the 100th Merlin 1D engine is complete. SpaceX is currently the largest private producer of rocket engines […]
Vostochny Under Construction. Image Credit The Moscow Times One question which defines the NewSpace movement, is which individuals, companies, or governments are investing in technologies or systems which have the capacity to significantly reduce the cost of access to space. In the case of the latter, governments, all too often it is just as easy […]
Still Holding On: Image Credit Sierra Nevada Corporation. The Wall Street Journal (yes, Andy Pasztor) reports that Sierra Nevada has taken its protest of NASA’s Commercial Crew award to a new level. According to the story, SNC has filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C. seeking to prevent NASA […]
Image Credit : SpaceX On Monday, Innerspace reported on a story in Space News about an excerpt from a letter sent by U.S. Representatives Lamar Smith (Tx) and Steven Palazzo, (Ms) to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding the possible use of Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew. Significantly, the letter also questioned whether or […]
Recent Comments