Crew Dragon’s first critical flight test, known as a Pad Abort Test, is expected to take place this Wednesday, May 6, from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. While the test is originating from the same launch pad we use for operational missions, this is not an operational flight. This will […]
Author: Zero-G News Admin
Blue Origin Conducts First Test Flight Of New Shepard Suborbital Rocket
Secretive space startup Blue Origin achieved a significant milestone on April 29 with the first development flight of the company’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle and spacecraft from its west Texas test site. The first all-up flight test was mostly successful and the rocket carried the uncrewed capsule to an altitude of over 58 miles. […]
NASA Launches RockSat-X Sounding Rocket With University Payloads
A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket carrying the RockSat-X payload was successfully launched at 7:01 a.m. EDT, Saturday, April 18, 2015. The rocket carried experiments developed by undergraduate students from the University of Colorado in Boulder, Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and […]
Falcon 9 Blasts Off With Cargo Supporting NASA’s One-Year Mission
Two tons of supplies and research cargo are headed to the International Space Station today following the successful launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral. After a one-day delay due to strong high-altitude winds, the rocket lifted off on time at 4:10:11 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 carrying Dragon on […]
Blue Origin Completes Acceptance Testing of New Shepard BE-3 Engine
Blue Origin recently completed acceptance testing of its BE‑3 rocket engine, the first new hydrogen engine to be developed in the United States in more than a decade. The 110,000-lbf BE‑3 will power Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital system, and later, will be modified for upper stage applications. “The BE‑3 has now been fired for […]
NASA’s Space Launch System to Boost Science with Secondary Payloads
When NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) launches on its first flight, it will be doing some serious multi-tasking. Not only will Exploration Mission-1 test the performance of SLS and its integration with the Orion spacecraft – the agency plans to use its massive lift capability to carry nearly a dozen nano-satellites to conduct science […]
American And Russian Begin Yearlong Orbital Journey
ISS One-Year Mission Expedition 43 Soyuz TMA-16M Launch Coverage NASA TV A NASA astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off for the International Space Station today. Their launch wasn’t historic in its own right. After all, the three are members of the 43rd expeditionary crew to live aboard the outpoust. What is groundbreaking is the […]
Delta IV Hits The Mark With Another Successful GPS Launch
Piercing a thick layer of clouds that hung low over the lannch pad, A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral on March 25, 2015 and successfully orbited the Global Positioning System GPS IIF-9 satellit efor the U.S. Air Force. Liftoff occurred on time at 2:36 p.m. EDT at the beginning […]
United Launch Alliance Lets The Public Name Its New Rocket
ULA is offering the public the opportunity to select the name of the company’s Next Generation Launch System (NGLS) rocket. Out of more than 300 names suggested by ULA employees, three finalists will be announced today at 9:30 am. The public will get to vote on their favorite until April 6. (UPDATE: The three name […]
SpaceX Clarifies Reason For TurkmenAlem52E Launch Delay
Over the weekend, SpaceX filled in some of the specifics regarding the recent decision to delay the launch of TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSAT, manufactured by Thales, due to what has been reported as a problem with helium pressurizing bottles on the Falcon 9 first stage for the mission. According to Space News‘ Jeff Foust, SpaceX spokesman John Taylor […]