Donald Houzer, a QinetiQ North America mechanical technician, checks out the Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX) during prelaunch preparations in the Space Station Processing Facility. (Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

By Anna Heiney
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida

A trio of science payloads have completed their missions on the International Space Station and returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where they’ll be turned over to the scientists who designed them.

The BRIC-18, Biotube-MICRo and APEX-02-2 investigations were created to answer a variety of biological questions critical to future long duration spaceflight, from the prevention and treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections to several mysterious aspects of plant growth.

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Greetings from beautiful (?) Hawthorne, California — home of SpaceX and other things. I am down here for the unveiling later tonight of SpaceX’s Dragon V2, which is the first flight ready hardware of the human vehicle the company7 is developing for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The event will begin in about two hours at 7:00 p.m. PDT/10 p.m. EDT.  SpaceX will be live streaming the event at www.spacex.com/webcast . […]

Michael Belfiore has a piece in the MIT Technology Review about a May 1 event at the Explorers Club in New York where 13 commercial space companies showed off their plans. Several key players had updated schedules which anyone paying the slightest bit of attention will know to take with 1.7 metric tons of salt: Virgin Galactic’s head of Astronaut Relations Lauren De Niro Pipher predicted that Richard Branson and […]

The FAA has published its final environmental impact statement on SpaceX’s planned launch facility south of Brownsville, Texas. The publication clears the way for the company to build the spaceport, from which it will launch Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. “The FAA has submitted the Final EIS to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),” the agency said on its website. “EPA will post a notification in the Federal Register […]

“Kids will walk away knowing exactly what it’s like to be an American astronaut.” https://t.co/8i5V9YoTu9 pic.twitter.com/UgPDNNb8He — The Onion (@TheOnion) May 29, 2014

So, just how powerless are future millionauts and their heirs in suing companies for injuries and deaths sustained during suborbital joyrides to the final frontier? Nobody is quite sure yet.

Thus far, the FAA has put forth an informed consent regime in which passengers must acknowledge they are undertaking a risky activity. At least six U.S. states have passed informed consent laws that provide space companies with various levels of protection from lawsuits filed over accidents, injuries and deaths during spaceflight operations.

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The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space terminal hangar facility (center), Spaceport Operations Center (Left) and “Spaceway” (Runway) at Spaceport America. (Credit: Bill Gutman/Spaceport America)

Agreement between Virgin Galactic, Spaceport America, and the Federal Aviation Administration is the first to cover a commercial spaceline

LAS CRUCES, NM., May 28, 2014 (VG PR) – Virgin Galactic, the privately-funded space company owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, and Spaceport America announced today that they have signed a joint agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that helps clear the path for commercial flights of SpaceShipTwo.

The historic agreement sets out the parameters for how routine space missions launched from Spaceport America will be integrated into the National Airspace System. Specifically, the agreement spells out how the FAA’s Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center and the New Mexico Spaceport Authority will work with Virgin Galactic to smoothly and safely provide clear airspace for SpaceShipTwo.

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Credit: World View

LAS VEGAS, May 27, 2014 (World View PR) – For those who dream of space travel, now is the time to leave a mark on this burgeoning industry. World View, a transformative space travel experience, invites designers and fans to create the official emblem to represent its spaceflight passengers known as ‘Voyagers.’

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Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo craft moves away from the International Space Station’s robotic arm shortly after its release. (Credit: NASA TV)

Mission Update – May 28, 2014
Via Orbital Sciences Corporation

Orbital has rescheduled the launch of its Antares rocket for the Orb-2 mission to a date of no earlier than (NET) June 17, 2014. Orb-2 is the second of eight cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA.

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First Launch in 16 Months After February 2013 Failure

NYON, Switzerland, May 27, 2014 (Seal Launch PR) – Sea Launch SA has successfully launched the EUTELSAT 3B satellite today from at its ocean-based Launch Platform Odyssey. This marks the completion of Sea Launch’s first mission in 2014, its third for Eutelsat, one of the world’s leading satellite operators,  and its 36th mission overall.

The Zenit-3SL rocket carrying the spacecraft lifted off at 14:09:59 Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) on Monday, May 26th (21:09:59 UTC, 23:09:55 CEST) from the launch platform, positioned at 154 degrees West longitude in the Pacific Ocean. One hour later, the Block DM-SL upper stage inserted the satellite, weighing 5,967 kilograms (13,155 lbs.) into geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a final orbital position at 3 degrees East longitude.  Eutelsat acquired the spacecraft’s first signals from orbit shortly after spacecraft separation. All systems performed nominally throughout the launch mission.

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