WhiteKnightTwo after a SpaceShipTwo owered flight in September. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

I spotted WhiteKnightTwo on the ramp outside of its hangar this afternoon. There was no sign of SpaceShipTwo. When I looked later in the day, the carrier aircraft was not there. I’m guessing it was back inside the hangar. If it flew, it likely did so in the morning; late afternoon flights are fairly rare.

I received a report last week that WhiteKnightTwo had been out flying on its own four or five times prior to the Thanksgiving break. None of the flights have shown up yet on the Scaled Composites summary page.

(more…)

State Sen. Steve Knight

California State Sen. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), a key supporter of commercial space, says he will run for Congress next year in the 25th District should the current office holder, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), decides to retire, the Antelope Valley Press reported today.

McKeon, 75, has not announced his plans, but there is widespread speculation in political circles that he will elect to step down next year rather than seek another two-year term, the newspaper reported.

The state senator, whose father William J. “Pete” Knight flew the X-15 rocket plane, has been a key backer of commercial space measures in the California Legislature. He introduced a limited liability bill designed to protect commercial space providers from passenger lawsuits that was approved with revisions. He also has introduced several other commercial space bills now being considered by legislators.

(more…)

Over the last few months, residents along the East Coast have been treated to a series of spectacular nighttime rocket launches from SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation. This week, it’s time for the West Coast to shine. An Atlas V is scheduled to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Thursday at 11:13 p.m. PST. The ULA rocket will carry a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload (NROL-39) into polar […]

Washington D.C. (CSF PR) -– The Commercial Spaceflight Federation congratulates SpaceX for the successful launch of their Falcon 9 v1.1 launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and for the deployment of the SES-8 telecommunications satellite in its intended geostationary orbit. This was the seventh consecutive launch of the Falcon 9 family, the second launch of the upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket, and SpaceX’s first communications satellite payload. […]

The neuroArm merges machine technology derived from the International Space Station’s Canadarm2 with microsurgery. (Credit:
Project neuroArm, University of Calgary)

CALGARY, Alberta (NASA PR) — People commonly use rocket science or brain surgery to refer to something incredibly complex and difficult. No wonder, then, that combining the two could result in something wonderful.

Powerful robotic arms developed by the Canadian Space Agency for the space shuttle and International Space Station – Canadarm and Canadarm2 – and a delicate surgical tool, dubbed neuroArm, are examples of the “wonderful things” that can happen when experts from different disciplines work together, says Garnette Sutherland, M.D.

(more…)

Falcon 9 in flight with the SES-8 satellite. (Credit: SpaceX)

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida (SpaceX PR) – Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) successfully completed its first geostationary transfer mission, delivering the SES-8 satellite to its targeted 295 x 80,000 km orbit. Falcon 9 executed a picture-perfect flight, meeting 100% of mission objectives.

(more…)

UPDATE 2:  SpaceX has just Tweeted; Spacecraft separation confirmed! SES-8 is now in its targeted GEO transfer orbit. UPDATE 1: SpaceX ‏has just Tweeted: #Falcon9 second stage restart burn successful. Orbit looks nominal. The third time was a charm as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 placed the SES-8 communications satellite into orbit from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite must reach geosynchronous orbit, which will involve a restart […]

Video Caption: Blue Origin recently performed a test of its BE-3 rocket engine as part of the company’s Commercial Crew Development Round 2 initiative with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Blue Origin test fired the powerful new hydrogen- and oxygen-fueled American rocket engine Nov. 20. During the test, the BE-3 engine ramped up to full power and fired for more than two minutes to simulate a launch, then paused for […]

At Blue Origin’s West Texas facility, the BE-3 engine demonstrated a full simulated suborbital mission profile, igniting, throttling, and restarting on command. (Credit: NASA)

KENT, Wash. (Blue Origin PR) – Blue Origin reached a key milestone in the development of the liquid-fueled BE-3 engine by successfully demonstrating deep throttle, full power, long-duration and reliable restart all in a single-test sequence.  The BE-3 is the first completely new liquid hydrogen-fueled engine to be developed for production in the U.S. since the RS-68 more than a decade ago.

(more…)

Artist concept of the SLS in flight. (Credit: NASA)

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) has introduced a measure that would prevent the Obama Administration and any future president from canceling the Space Launch System and Orion crew vehicle programs without Congressional approval while freeing up hundreds of millions of dollars to be applied to those programs.

Bill H.R. 3625 targets terminal liability funds that Orion and SLS contractors are holding in reserve in case the government decides to cancel these programs for convenience. The measure says that “hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are unavailable for meaningful work on these programs.”

(more…)