Tag: EELV
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SpaceX, ULA win military contracts, Air Force renames EELV program
File photo of an Atlas 5-421 rocket on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance and SpaceX recently won contracts worth $739 million to send six missions into orbit for the U.S. military, and the Air Force has announced a new title for its flagship launcher program, dropping “expendable”…
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SpaceX closes out year with successful GPS satellite launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral on Sunday. Credit: SpaceX A new era in GPS navigation launched Sunday, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into orbit with a Lockheed Martin-built satellite designed to beam higher-power positioning, navigation and timing signals around the world, providing military and civilian users with more accurate…
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Live coverage: SpaceX launches GPS navigation satellite for U.S. Air Force
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with the U.S. Air Force’s GPS 3 SV01 navigation satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter. Spaceflight Now Members can watch a live view of Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad. SpaceX’s…
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Falcon 9 launch timeline with the GPS 3 SV01 navigation satellite
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Dec. 19, Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 with new target launch dates. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Sunday carrying the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS 3-series navigation satellite destined for an orbit more than 12,000 miles above Earth. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket is poised for…
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Air Force requirements will keep SpaceX from landing Falcon 9 booster after GPS launch
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Dec. 19, Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 for new target launch dates. The U.S. Air Force’s first upgraded GPS 3-series navigation satellite undergoes electromagnetic testing at Lockheed Martin’s factory in Denver. Credit: Lockheed Martin The demands of launching the first in an upgraded line of U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellites, including a…
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ULA, Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman share Air Force rocket funding
Artist’s concept of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Credit: Blue Origin The U.S. Air Force has committed $327 million in funding to advance development of new rockets designed by United Launch Alliance, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman, leaving out SpaceX in a government investment round that will lead to the military’s selection of two long-term…
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U.S. Air Force certifies Falcon Heavy rocket, awards launch contract
SpaceX’s first Falcon Heavy rocket blasts off from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 6. Credit: Walter Scriptunas II / Spaceflight Now The successful maiden flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket in February was enough for the U.S. Air Force to certify the huge booster to carry the military’s…
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Orbital ATK names new launcher, selects upper stage engine
Artist’s illustration of Orbital ATK’s proposed OmegA rocket. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s proposed rocket to answer the U.S. Air Force’s desire for two families of satellite launchers with U.S.-made propulsion systems will be named OmegA, and the company has selected the cryogenic Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine to power the vehicle’s upper stage, officials announced…
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Blue Origin’s orbital rocket in the running to receive U.S. military investment
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 14 with correction on West Coast launch site and BE-4 investment details. Artist’s concept of the two-stage version of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Credit: Blue Origin Blue Origin submitted a proposal late last year in what’s expected to be a four-way competition for U.S. Air Force funding to support development…
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Orbital ATK confident new rocket will win Air Force support
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 13. Artist’s concept of Orbital ATK’s Next Generation Launch system in flight. Credit: Orbital ATK Orbital ATK’s bid to join the U.S. military’s roster of rockets to haul the most critical national security satellites into orbit faces stiff competition from entrenched launch providers and billionaire entrepreneurs, but the company is confident…