With all cylinders now firing on NASA’s exploration planning effort, the development and early mission schedule for the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion are starting to fall into place, with dramatic improvements being worked for NASA’s opening crewed Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) mission with the Orion (MPCV), which is moving to the left by [...]
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International Launch Services (ILS) have launched their Proton-M rocket on Thursday, on a mission which is marking their first ILS launch since the Russian workhorse returned to flight. Launch was on schedule at 18:32 GMT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the Proton tasked with deploying the QuetzSat-1 telecommunications satellite for SES, after what [...]
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After becoming the third nation to master the human spaceflight, China has made its next step in human space exploration with the launch of the unmanned space module TG-1 TianGong-1. Lift-off was on schedule at the opening of the launch window at 13:16UTC on on Thursday using a Long March 2F/G (T1) launch vehicle. Launch [...]
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An Orbital Minotaur IV+ rocket has launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, on Tuesday, carrying an experimental communications satellite for the United States Navy and Operationally Responsive Space Office. Liftoff was on schedule at 15:49 UTC (07:49 local time).
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NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) have recommended that NASA personnel embedded at commercial companies should be rotated, in order to avoid them “going native”, which they fear threatens rule bending as the teams’ working relationship becomes closer over time. Meanwhile, SpaceX are waiting on decision to see if they can combine their next two [...]
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Sea Launch have made their long awaited return action on Saturday, with the launch of ATLANTIC BIRD 7 – a communications satellite. Liftoff was on schedule for the opening of a 57-minute window, at 1:18am PDT (08:18 GMT), from the Odyssey Launch Platform located in the Pacific Ocean. Spacecraft separation and acquisition were both classed [...]
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As the Space Launch System (SLS) continues to push on – with the latest stage being the release of the acquisition overview – NASA’s recent official announcement of the new launch vehicle has been warmly received by the first and last men to walk on the Moon. However, both Neil Armstrong and Captain Gene Cernan [...]
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Japan has launched a new Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) known as Optical-4, via their H-2A (H-IIA) launch vehicle. Given the military nature of the payload, only amateur footage of the launch was available, although it did show the vehicle successfully lifted off from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) at 04:36 [...]
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Arianespace have returned to action on Wednesday, as their Ariane 5 ECA launched two more telecommunication satellites into orbit – namely Arabsat-5C and SES-2. Launch from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, was on schedule, at the start of a 40 minute launch window, which opened at 9:38pm UTC.
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NASA managers have further refined their plans to transfer Orbiter and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware to the Space Launch System (SLS). Known as hardware retention, the plan now calls for Discovery to remain untouched, while Atlantis and Endeavour would donate their “inners” to play a key role in the development [...]
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With the Space Shuttle Program now an element of NASA’s past, the U.S. agency is pressing forward with evaluations on how best to make use of the floor space at Mission Control Center Houston now that a major element of the agency’s focus for the past 30+ years has been retired.
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China returned to flight with the launch of a military communications satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, exactly one month after the launch failure that destroyed the SJ-11 ShiJian 11-04 military satellite. The launch of this new communications satellite, the ZX-1A ZhongXing-1A (ChinaSat-1A) toke place at 16:33 UTC on Sunday using a Long March [...]
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As NASA’s defunct Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) continues to head towards its death – which will result in re-entry around September 23 – NASA managers have discussed ways of improving their fragmentation models for future returning spacecraft, with the aim of reducing the the debris footprint for hardware which may threaten to survive entry.
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Russia’s Soyuz TMA-21/26S spacecraft departed the International Space Station (ISS) today (Friday 16th September) prior to landing in Kazakhstan a few hours later. Soyuz TMA-21, carrying American astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev & Andrey Borisenko, undocked from the Mini Research Module-2 (MRM-2) Zenith docking port at 12:38 AM GMT, before landing at [...]
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After several years of trade studies and political arguments, NASA administrator Charlie Bolden finally gave the Space Launch System (SLS) its official public unveiling on Wednesday. As has been known for months, the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) is Shuttle Derived (SD) and will use $10 billion of NASA funding through to its debut launch [...]
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The company made famous in the space flight industry for their giant Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) have put their hat into the ring for potentially carrying NASA astronauts to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) via their Liberty launch vehicle. Looking very much like the cancelled Ares I – Liberty will use a five segment booster with [...]
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NASA’s Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) are continuing to expand their involvement in exploration training and simulation by working with the international Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) team on multi-hour missions – a precursor to deep space exploration missions, which will one day involve humans searching for signs of life on Mars.
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The Delta II rocket has launched on its 150th flight on Saturday, departing from Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 17 for the final time on the second of two launch opportunities – at 9:08am Eastern (13:08 UTC). The rocket is carrying NASA’s two GRAIL spacecraft, which will be used to study the Moon’s gravitational field.
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Although the space program finds itself lacking long-term direction, managers have marked a major milestone for their next crew transport, as the Orion Flight Test (OFT-1) vehicle began construction at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans. This first “flight worthy” Orion is set to launch on top of a Delta IV Heavy in [...]
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NASA and Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) have conducted a full-scale test of a five-segment solid rocket motor – designated Development Motor-3 (DM-3) – at their test facility in Promontory, on Thursday. The configuration is being tested ahead of a potential role with the Space Launch System (SLS), which would utilize two of the boosters during [...]
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