Commercial Space

NASA concerned SpaceX’s Starship schedule could delay moon landing

Artist’s illustration of the Starship landing system on the moon. Credit: SpaceX A senior NASA official raised concerns Wednesday that “difficulties” with SpaceX’s development of the huge new Starship rocket could delay the Artemis program’s first moon landing with astronauts from late 2025, a mission that will use a derivative of the Starship vehicle to …

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Test-firing of ULA’s first Vulcan rocket on tap today

Watch our live coverage of the Flight Readiness Firing for United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Follow us on Twitter. SFN Live United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket is back on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral for a critical test-firing of its Blue Origin-built BE-4 main engines …

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Cargo Dragon docks at space station

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon spacecraft docked at the International Space Station on Tuesday. Credit: NASA TV / Spaceflight Now Closing out an automated 18-hour rendezvous, a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship loaded with 7,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, including two add-on roll-out solar blankets, caught up with the International …

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SpaceX delivers 52 more Starlink satellites into orbit

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:02 p.m. PDT Tuesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Credit: SpaceX Another batch of 52 Starlink satellites launched late Tuesday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on the way to join SpaceX’s fleet of more than 4,000 spacecraft beaming broadband signals around the world. Stacked one …

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Swiss company selects Arianespace to launch first space debris removal mission

Artist’s concept of ClearSpace’s spacecraft approaching a piece of space debris from a previous Vega rocket launch in 2013. Credit: ClearSpace Swiss-based in-orbit servicing startup ClearSpace has contracted Arianespace to launch its first debris removal mission to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram (220-pound) piece of space debris. Europe’s Vega C will launch the ClearSpace-1 servicer …

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Virgin Galactic resumes suborbital spaceflights

STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An on-board camera captured this spectacular view of planet Earth with the Unity spaceplane’s folding wings as the six-person vehicle soared over 50 miles above New Mexico. Credit: Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic launched its suborbital spaceplane “Unity” on its first crewed flight in two years Wednesday, carrying two …

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Whitson says commercial station visit critical to private-sector space ops

Ax-2 crew members Ali Alqarni, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner on the International Space Station. Credit: Axiom Space America’s most experienced astronaut says her fully commercial visit to the International Space Station this week is a critical stepping stone on the road to space tourism, private-sector orbital research and development of commercially operated space stations. …

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Axiom’s second private astronaut mission docks at International Space Station

SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom spacecraft approaches the International Space Station for docking Monday. Credit: Axiom / SpaceX / NASA Four commercial space fliers who launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Axiom’s second private astronaut mission Sunday arrived at the International Space Station on a SpaceX crew capsule Monday to start an eight-day stay full of …

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First Vulcan rocket rolls back to hangar for ‘adjustments’ prior to test-firing

United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket rolls out to Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on May 11. Credit: United Launch Alliance United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a …

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SpaceX’s Falcon rocket family reaches 200 straight successful missions

SpaceX’s launch of 51 more Starlink internet satellites Wednesday from California marked the 200th consecutive successful mission for the company’s Falcon rocket family, a record unmatched by any other space launch vehicle. The string of successes dates back to September 2016, when a Falcon 9 rocket exploded on a launch pad during pre-flight testing at …

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