Author: starpathwp-production
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Starliner lands safely in New Mexico
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft rests in the desert of the White Sands Space Harbor following its return to Earth from the International Space Station. Image: Boeing Leaving its crew behind in orbit, Boeing’s troubled Starliner spacecraft undocked from the International Space Station Friday and chalked up a successful unpiloted return to Earth, closing out a disappointing…
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With NASA’s plan faltering, China knows it can be first with Mars sample return
China plans to launch two heavy-lift Long March 5 rockets with elements of the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission in 2028, the mission’s chief designer said Thursday. In a presentation at a Chinese space exploration conference, the chief designer of China’s robotic Mars sample return project described the mission’s high-level design and outlined how the…
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SpaceX employees warned not to travel to Brazil
The Wall Street Journal reports that SpaceX emailed employees not to travel to Brazil for business or leisure as it continues to be entangled in an X ban by the nation’s supreme court. Non-Brazilian employees were also reportedly relocated quietly. For the last few months, Elon Musk’s media project, X, has been in legal trouble…
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Starliner Calypso has undocked and returned to Earth without CFT crew
The Boeing Starliner Calypso, which launched to the International Space Station on June 5 with two experienced astronauts on board, is about to undock from ISS after three months on orbit — but with those fliers staying behind on the Station for the next six months while the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission ends without…
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Redwire Joins the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council to Support Greater Bilateral Collaboration in Space
Redwire Corporation, a company in space infrastructure for the next generation space economy, announced that it has joined the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, signaling the importance that Redwire is placing on developing opportunities with the burgeoning Emirati space sector. Redwire has already benefited from the U.A.E.’s growing space prowess. During his historic spacewalk in April 2023,…
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Blue Origin shifts its plans for New Glenn rocket after NASA postpones Mars mission
Elements of the New Glenn rocket’s first stage are mated at Blue Origin’s factory in Florida. (Blue Origin Photo) NASA is delaying the launch of its ESCAPADE probes to Mars, which means plans for the debut of Blue Origin’s heavy-lift New Glenn rocket will change as well. New Glenn was previously due to send the…
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Viasat Secures $153M Contract to Support U.S. Army’s Blue Force Tracker Program
Viasat, Inc., one of the global leaders in satellite communications, announced it has received a five-year, $153 million dollar contract at full value potential from the Defense Information Services Agency to provide network services and support for the U.S. Army Project Manager Mission Command (PM MC) Blue Force Tracker (BFT) program. The period of performance…
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NASA Releases Landing Criteria and Timeline for Boeing Starliner Mission
As NASA and Boeing prepare to return the company’s Starliner spacecraft uncrewed from the International Space Station to Earth, safety and mission success remain as top priorities for the teams. Mission managers will complete a series of operational and weather checks before the spacecraft undocks from the orbital complex. The Starliner spacecraft is the first…
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Rocket Report: Falcon 9 lifts its 7,000th Starlink; ABL cuts deep
Welcome to Edition 7.10 of the Rocket Report! It has been a big week for seeing new hardware from Blue Origin. We’ve observed the second stage of New Glenn rolling out to its launch pad in Florida, and the rocket’s first stage recovery ship, Jacklyn, arriving at a nearby port. It looks like the pieces…
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As it happened: Boeing’s Starliner returned to Earth, marking the end of the Crew Flight Test mission
The summer-long saga of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test is set to come to an end on Friday. Landing at the White Sands Space Harbor shortly after midnight on Saturday. Starliner will make its final journey without crew onboard. NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams will remain onboard the International Space…