Tag: SpaceX

  • Jason 3 satellite shipped to Vandenberg for SpaceX launch

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    Artist’s concept of the Jason 3 satellite in orbit. Credit: Thales Alenia Space-D. Ducros An international oceanography satellite arrived at its California launch base from a factory in France on Thursday for fueling, testing and other final preps before its scheduled Aug. 8 blastoff on a Falcon 9 rocket. Packed inside a specialized shipping container,…

  • Commercial crew spaceships face likely delays

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    Updated at 5 p.m. EDT Artist’s concepts of Boeing’s CST-100 crew capsule and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. Credit: Boeing/SpaceX NASA officials and lawmakers warned Wednesday that U.S. astronauts will continue riding to the International Space Station aboard Russian spacecraft longer than planned if a spending plan under consideration in the Senate becomes law. The space…

  • Video: Falcon 9 nose shroud falls back to Earth

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    SpaceX has released another jaw-dropping video from a camera fastened to a piece of a Falcon 9 rocket’s payload fairing, showing the nose cone spinning through space after its separation on a recent launch. The on-board video likely came from a satellite launch earlier this year. SpaceX did not disclose which mission produced the stunning…

  • Launch of U.S.-French oceanography satellite postponed

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    The Jason 3 satellite inside a clean room at its Thales Alenia Space factory in Cannes. Credit: CNES/Thales Alenia Space The launch of a U.S.-French oceanography satellite from California has been postponed from July 22 after engineers discovered contamination in one of the spacecraft’s thrusters at its factory in France. NOAA announced the launch slip…

  • NASA evaluating CCP Loss Of Crew and Mishap procedures

    NASA evaluating CCP Loss Of Crew and Mishap procedures

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    NASA’s transition from the Space Shuttle to the commercial crew vehicles will dramatically improve crew safety parameters relating to the transportation of astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). However, preparing for the worst is a necessary requirement that is currently being evaluated by NASA, per presentations to the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP). Loss Of…

  • SpaceX cleared to launch U.S. national security satellites

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    File photo of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch. Credit: SpaceX The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that SpaceX is now eligible to compete for launches of U.S. national security satellites, closing a tumultuous chapter in the U.S. rocket industry and ending the Pentagon’s sole reliance on United Launch Alliance to haul military payloads into…

  • SpaceX Dragon completes CRS-6 mission with splashdown

    SpaceX Dragon completes CRS-6 mission with splashdown

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    SpaceX’s CRS-6 Dragon unberthed from the International Space Station (ISS) and was released from the grip of the Station’s “Big Arm” on Thursday. The resupply ship then completed homeward leg of her trouble-free orbital adventures, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean expected less than six hours after parting ways with the orbital outpost. CRS-6:…

  • SpaceX cargo ship returns to Earth

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    STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION A SpaceX cargo capsule loaded with 3,100 pounds of research samples, no-longer-needed equipment and trash returned to Earth Thursday after a month-long stay at the International Space Station, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Long Beach, Calif., after a fiery descent from orbit. Astronaut…

  • SpaceX has ‘aggressive’ schedule leading up to crew flights

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    A prototype of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spaceship blasts off May 6 on a test of the capsule’s abort system. Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett Staying true to a corporate philosophy that favors high-visibility flight tests, SpaceX plans to continue wringing out major parts of the company’s human-rated Dragon spaceship in a sequence of dramatic flights leading up…

  • SpaceX gets certified to launch NASA science missions

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    File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX NASA has formally certified SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket to launch all but the space agency’s most costly robotic science missions, beginning with a a U.S.-French oceanography satellite set for liftoff from California in July. NASA’s Launch Services Program, which…