Tag: Launch

  • Rocket Lab reports recovery test success

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    Aiming for reusability, Rocket Lab has demonstrated the mid-air recovery of a booster test article in a key test before rigging the first stage of the company’s Electron launcher with a parachute on missions beginning later this year. The company said the test in early March showed Rocket Lab’s concept of catching a descending Electron…

  • Florida launch range remains open; Falcon 9 mission postponed

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated April 15 with new launch date. File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX Range personnel at Cape Canaveral will employ physical distancing, face covers and other cautionary measures to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus during launch operations, the commander of the U.S. military’s 45th Space Wing…

  • Ground teams fuel Perseverance rover landing system, attach Mars Helicopter

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    The Mars Helicopter was installed on NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover April 6 inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/JPL Working under the cloud of the global coronavirus pandemic, technicians and engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center have installed a rotor-driven drone on the agency’s next Mars rover…

  • Virgin Orbit completes cryogenic captive carry test flight

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    Virgin Orbit’s rocket carrier aircraft, named “Cosmic Girl,” executes a pull-up maneuver to simulate the release of the company’s small satellite launcher. Credit: Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit completed a captive carry flight of its liquid-fueled air-launched rocket Sunday over the Pacific Ocean in what the company described as its final development test before the small…

  • Chinese rocket fails during launch of Indonesian communications satellite

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    The Palapa-N1 communications satellite during pre-launch testing. Credit: PSN A Long March 3B rocket malfunctioned during the launch of an Indonesian communications satellite Thursday, leading to sightings of fiery debris in the skies over Guam. Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, said the Long March 3B launcher failed after lifting off from the Xichang space center…

  • SpaceX plans another Starlink launch next week

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    A view of 60 Starlink satellites stacked before a previous launch. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of satellites for the Starlink Internet network from Florida’s Space Coast as soon as April 16, a sign that launch operations at Cape Canaveral could continue at a reduced pace amid the global coronavirus pandemic.…

  • Space companies rally to supply medical equipment amid pandemic

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    A “bridge ventilator” designed by Virgin Orbit. Credit: Virgin Orbit While production of rockets and satellites continues across much of the space industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, engineers at several space companies — including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and Blue Origin — have started working on medical devices and protective equipment in response to shortages in…

  • Video: Slidewire basket crew egress system tested at pad 39A

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    EDITOR’S NOTE: Videos like this are made possible with the help of Spaceflight Now Members. If you enjoy our coverage of the space industry, please consider becoming a member. SpaceX tested astronaut slidewire escape baskets and fire suppression capabilities Friday at launch pad 39A in Florida, demonstrating rescue systems that would be activated in the event…

  • SpaceX loses third Starship prototype in cryogenic ground test

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    A prototype for SpaceX’s Starship space vehicle collapsed during pressure testing early Friday at the company’s facility in South Texas — the program’s third failure during such testing since November — but assembly of a new version is already underway. The stainless steel cylinder appeared to rupture near its top after filling with super-cold…

  • OneWeb files for bankruptcy

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    Illustration of OneWeb’s satellite network. Credit: Airbus OneWeb — three launches into a series of nearly 20 missions to deploy 650 satellites to provide global Internet service — has announced it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reduced its workforce after unsuccessful negotiations for more cash from its largest investor. Headquartered in London with…