Video Caption: On June 14, SpaceX’s Grasshopper flew 325 m (1066 feet)–higher than Manhattan’s Chrysler Building–before smoothly landing back on the pad. For the first time in this test, Grasshopper made use of its full navigation sensor suite with the F9-R closed loop control flight algorithms to accomplish a precision landing. Most rockets are equipped with sensors to determine position, but these sensors are generally not accurate enough to accomplish […]

Nonthaburi, Thailand (Khiri Voyages PR) — SXC says that Space travel is no longer the exclusive domain of governments. It is now coming into reach for private individuals and organizations. SXC, will facilitate Space adventure travel for Thai nationals who book through Khiri Voyages, which has an introductory Thai language website up at www.spacevoyages.asia ahead of the SXC July 8 press event.

After booking through Khiri Voyages, Thai Space travellers undergo training in the Netherlands, which includes a flight in a L-39 Albatross jet and the unique Desdemona simulator, which generates G-forces of up to 3.3G.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Launch Services Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has selected United Launch Services LLC of Englewood, Colo., to provide Delta II launch services for the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) mission, currently scheduled for July 2016.
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Navy officials in Hawaii have begun preparations for the debut of a new small satellite launcher by requesting the expansion of a danger zone around the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, The Garden Island reports.

If approved, the danger zone fronting PMRF would roughly triple in size, encompass about 7 miles of coastline — from Barking Sands to Kokole Point — and extend between 2.96 and 4.19 nautical miles out to sea.

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A scale model of a Boeing CST-100 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V is tested inside a wind tunnel to evaluate the design and see how it will behave during launch and ascent into orbit. (Credit: The Boeing Company)

By Steven Siceloff,
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

The Boeing Company in Houston is performing ongoing work to advance the design of the CST-100, a capsule and service module, in between meeting major milestones for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing is one of three companies working with NASA to develop space transportation systems capable of flying astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station later this decade.

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Another fine day for Russia’s space program. A Proton crashes with three GLONASS satellites.

The recovery from Tuesday’s spectacular launch failure continues, with all future Proton launches suspended indefinitely, a special commission zeroing in on possible causes, Roscosmos getting harshly criticized for mismanaging the nation’s space program, and Russian prosecutors threatening jail tail for anyone held responsible for the loss the rocket and three GLONASS satellites.

Meanwhile, the crisis roiling the aging and inefficient Russian space industry roils on unabated.

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Jeremy Parsons, chief of the GSDO Operations Integration Office at Kennedy Space Center, speaks to the media during a tri-program briefing in the Operations and Checkout Building high bay on June 27. (Credit: NASA/Jim Grossman)

By Linda Herridge,
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

As Kennedy Space Center transforms from a government-only launch facility into a multiuser spaceport, the Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program Office manages the renovations and upgrades made to the launch and support infrastructure.

The program’s mission to prepare the center for next-generation rockets and spacecraft will enable NASA’s exploration objectives by developing the necessary ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches.

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“The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and […]

Another fine day for Russia’s space program. A Proton crashes with three GLONASS satellites.

The spectacular crash of Russia’s Proton rocket on Tuesday — with the loss of three navigation satellites — was simply the latest in a series of launch failures that have bedeviled the Russian and Ukrainian space industries over the last 30 months.

The table below shows a tale of woe that began in December 2010 and has resulted in the loss of 15 spacecraft and cost the heads of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and launch vehicle builder Khrunichev their jobs.

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The Brunswick News has the following update on efforts to develop a spaceport in Georgia: The Camden County Commission wants to show it is in the race to bring a space port to the county. Commissioners voted, 5-0, Tuesday to hire Holland & Knight, a Washington, D.C.,-based consulting firm, to represent the county with real estate, environmental counseling and government affairs services to help convince Space X that Camden County […]