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Sierra Nevada Files Protest Challenging NASA Commercial Crew Awards To Boeing, SpaceX

(Editor’s Note: The following is a press release from Sierra Nevada Corp. in regards to filing of a protest against NASA’s recent CCtCap contracts to Boeing and SpaceX) Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announced today that it has filed a legal challenge to the award of contracts to Boeing and SpaceX under the Commercial Crew Transportation […]

Falcon 9 blasts off with Dragon CRS-4. Photo Credit: SpaceX
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Dragon Blasts Off With Science, Supplies On Fourth Space Station Cargo Run

Dodging persistent thunderstorms that have beseiged Florida most of the summer, a Falcon 9 rocket soared into space overnight and sucessfully delivered a cargo-laden Dragon spacecraft in low Earth orbit to begin SpaceX’s fourth resupply mission to the International Space Station. Delayed a day by bad weather, the 208 foot tall pencil-like rocket blasted off […]

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket, with the Cygnus cargo spacecraft aboard, is seen as it launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
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NASA Opens Bidding For Second Round Of ISS Cargo Resupply Services

On the heels of awarding groundbreaking contracts to U.S. commercial space companies to ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA has released a request for proposals (RFP) for the next round of contracts for private-sector companies to deliver experiments and supplies to the orbiting laboratory. Under the Commercial Resupply Services 2 RFP, NASA […]

Model of BE-4 engine. Photo Credit: ULA
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United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin To Develop RD-180 Alternative

Facing pressure to find a domestic replacement for the Russian-built RD-180 liquid fuel rocket engine that powers the Atlas V EELV, United Launch Alliance and Blue Origin announced today the formation of a partnership to develop an innovative new large liquid rocket engine in the United States. Once in production, the new engine will power […]

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One More Leap, Boeing And SpaceX Win NASA’s Commercial Crew Contracts

U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a […]

The fully-assembled Orion EFT-1 spacecraft is revealed for the first time. Photo Credit: Matthew Travis / Zero-G News
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NASA Rolls Out First Orion Spacecraft For December EFT-1 Test Flight

NASA is making steady progress on its Orion spacecraft, completing several milestones this week at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the capsule’s first trip to space in December. Engineers finished building the Orion crew module, attached it and the already-completed service module to the adapter that will join Orion to its […]

Falcon 9 launches with AsiaSat 6. Photo Credit: Matthew Travis / Zero-G News
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Falcon 9 Successfully Delivers AsiaSat 6 Comsat To Orbit

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into orbit during the overnight hours on September 7 on a successful mission to deliver the commercial AsiaSat 6 communication satellite to orbit for Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Ltd. Launch occurred right on time at 1 a.m. EDT Sunday morning from SpaceX’s Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral […]

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Acoustic Tests Help NASA Model SLS Launch Dynamics

Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are wrapping up acoustic testing on a 5-percent scale model of NASA’s Space Launch System. The Aug.28 test, the 34th in the series, will help NASA engineers understand how loud the SLS vehicle will be during liftoff. Data from the test series will be used […]

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SLS Passes Milestone And Receives NASA Approval For Development

NASA officials Wednesday announced they have completed a rigorous review of the Space Launch System (SLS) — the heavy-lift, exploration class rocket under development to take humans beyond Earth orbit and to Mars — and approved the program’s progression from formulation to development, something no other exploration class vehicle has achieved since the agency built […]

Successful launch of Grasshopper. Credit: SpaceX
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SpaceX Falcon 9R Rocket Explodes During Texas Test Flight

SpaceX experienced a rare but disappointing failure today when one of the company’s Falcon 9R (reusable) rockets exploded during a test flight at the SpaceX facility near McGregor, TX. It is unknown if the problem today will affect the scheduled August 27 launch from Cape Canaveral of a Falcon 9 carrying the commercial Asiasat 6 […]