Exploring The Frontier Of Space
Unmanned Spaceflight
United Launch Alliance (ULA) President and CEO Tory Bruno testified today to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, regarding the future of space launch and how his company is innovating and transforming to provide more affordable space launch services. Hearing Replay – Assuring Assured Access to Space – […]
NASA’s first-of-its kind mission to study the violent interactions of the magnetic fields surrounding Earth got underway last night with a spectacular blastoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral AFS. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) lifted off on time at 10:44 p.m. EDT, beginning the third of […]
Working to build a steady launch pace and shake off the impression that its rockets tend to scrub as often as they fly, today SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 on time on its first launch attempt. The milestone mission to deliver two communications satellites on the same vehicle blasted off in the foggy night […]
The second mission of 2015 for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket finally thundered into space today from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral after three days of delays due to weather and technical issues. Described as the most beautiful Falcon launch to date, the vehicle lifted off a few minutes before sunset at 6:03:32 pm […]
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 […]
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 […]
Just days after entering judge-ordered mediation, SpaceX and the United States Air Force announced today that they have reached a settlement agreement regarding the lawsuit SpaceX filed against the Air Force’s EELV Block Buy contract with United Launch Alliance. According to a statement from SpaceX, it would appear that ULA will not have to give […]
Marking the 200th launch for the venerable Atlas-Centaur family of rockets and 52nd Atlas V, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V thundered off the launch pad Tuesday night to deploy the third Mobile User Objective System for the United States Navy. MUOS-3 joins two existing satellites in geosynchronous orbit providing secure, reliable high-speed communications to […]
A Falcon 9 rocket blasted into space early this morning carrying the fifth mission to resupply the International Space Station under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Topped by the company’s Dragon spacecraft, Falcon lifted off on time at 4:47 am EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral AFS […]
The next launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to deliver cargo to the International Space Station is being delayed until early January, company officials confirmed this morning. Trouble encountered during a test firing of the vehicle’s first stage prompted SpaceX to move the launch date until after the holidays. During the static test on […]