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Kennedy Space Center Opens New Small Vehicle Launch Complex

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida took another step forward in its transformation to a 21st Century multi-user spaceport with the completion of the new Small Class Vehicle Launch Pad, designated 39C, in the Launch Pad 39B area. This designated pad to test smaller rockets will make it more affordable for smaller aerospace companies to […]

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Atlas V Launches Secret X-37B Spaceplane And Novel Solar Sail Experiment

With help from NASA, a small research satellite to test technology for in-space solar propulsion launched into space Wednesday aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, as part of the agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. Check Out Our Atlas V / AFSPC-5 Photo Gallery! Watch Our Launch Videos! The Atlas V […]

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“Old Reliable” Delta II Orbits First Of A Kind Soil Moisture Mapping Spacecraft

Blazing a trail through a cloudy California morning, a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket successfully deployed NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP spacecraft into polar orbit this morning on one of the venerable launch vehicle’s final missions. After delays this week due to strong high altitude winds, Delta blasted off at 6:22 a.m. PST […]

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Planetary Society Announces LightSail Spacecraft Test Flight

The Planetary Society today announced the first of its LightSail spacecraft will embark on a May 2015 test flight. Funded entirely by private citizens, the solar sail satellite will hitch a ride to space aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The mission will test LightSail’s critical functions, a […]

Artist's concept of CubeSats near Jupiter's moon Europa. Image Credit: NASA/JPL
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JPL Selects CubeSat Proposals for Europa Clipper Mission Study

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, has chosen proposals from 10 universities to study CubeSat concepts that could enhance a Europa mission concept currently under study by NASA. The CubeSat concepts will be incorporated into a JPL study describing how small probes could be carried as auxiliary payloads. The CubeSats would then be released […]

This is an exploded view of the CubeSat-class 50-millimeter (2-inch) imaging instrument that technologist Jason Budinoff is manufacturing with 3-D-printed parts. It shows the mirrors and integrated optical-mechanical structures. Image Credit: NASA Goddard/Jason Budinoff
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NASA To Create First 3D-Printed Space Cameras

By the end of September, NASA aerospace engineer Jason Budinoff is expected to complete the first imaging telescopes ever assembled almost exclusively from 3-D-manufactured components. “As far as I know, we are the first to attempt to build an entire instrument with 3-D printing,” said Budinoff, who works at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in […]

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Dragon Begins Third ISS Resupply Mission; First Stage Recovery Test Success

  A GoPro Captures Launch Of A SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Carrying Dragon CRS-3 Dodging a gloomy weather forecast, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket roared into space this afternoon to begin a critical resupply mission to the International Space Station and test a revolutionary booster stage recovery system that could change the economics of the […]

Antares blasts off with Cygnus Orb-1. Photo Credit: Mike Killian / AmericaSpace
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Antares Blasts Off With Cygnus On First Contracted ISS Resupply Mission

Marking the beginning of regular supply runs to the International Space Station, Orbital Sciences Corporation sucessfully launched its Cygnus cargo craft aboard Antares rocket January 9 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. Following a delay of several days due to record-breaking cold and a powerful solar flare, Antares blasted off on […]

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Atlas V Lofts Top-Secret Satellite, 12 CubeSats For NASA And Education

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifted off from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenber AFC on Dec. 5 at 11:14 p.m. PST. Designated NROL-39, the mission is in support of national defense and also carried several secondary CubeSat payloads for government and civilian customers.

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Second-Generation Falcon Takes Flight To Test New Engines, Recoverability

Equipped with upgraded engines, computer systems and greatly improved payload capacity, SpaceX’s first second-generation Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from the company’s new West Coast launch pad at Vendenberg AFB, CA on a successful demonstration of the new rocket’s capabilities while deploying four small satellites for commercial customers. The 224 foot tall Falcon 9 v1.1 […]