The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket on its maiden launch on April 21, 2013. (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Orbital Sciences Corporation has sued ULA seeking damages of between $515 million to $1.5 billion for blocking sales of the Russian-built RD-180 that Orbital wants to use in its Antares launch vehicle, Space News reports.

Orbital of Dulles, Va., claims Denver-based ULA has not only illegally prevented open-market sale of the RD-180, but also has monopolized the launch-services market for certain satellites in violation of U.S. antitrust laws, according to a complaint filed June 20 with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.

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This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston: 1. Monday, June 24, 2013: 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome SARA MESCHBERGER to discuss the upcoming NewSpace 2013 Conference (https://newspace.spacefrontier.org). 2. Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): RAND SIMBERG RETURNS to discuss his newly completed book, “Safe Is Not An Option.” 3. Wednesday, June 26, 2013, 9:30-10:30 […]

A J-2X engine test firing on April 4, 2103, at Stennis Space Center. (Credit: NASA/SSC)

SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 21, 2013 (Aerojet Rocketdyne PR) — The leading rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp (GY) company, announced today that it successfully completed the first in a series of full motion hot-fire tests on the J-2X engine at John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. NASA has selected the J-2X as the upper-stage propulsion for the evolved 143-ton (130-metric ton) Space Launch System (SLS), an advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle.

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Astronaut Shannon Walker activates an experiment aboard the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA

HUNTSVILLE, ALA. (NASA PR) — NASA has unveiled an upgraded Payload Operations Integration Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The operation center’s new capabilities enhance collaboration and enable the ground team to efficiently help the International Space Station crew and researchers around the world perform cutting-edge science in the unique space environment.

The Payload Operations Integration Center — which began around-the-clock operations March 19, 2001 — plans and coordinates all the research activities on the space station. Since NASA and 15 international partners completed station assembly in 2011, crews have devoted more time to conducting space station science.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif., June 18, 2013 (Aerojet Rocketydyne PR) — Aerojet Rocketdyne, a GenCorp (GY) company, and Experimental Design Bureau (EDB) Fakel of Kaliningrad, Russia, announced today at the Paris Air Show the signing of an extension to the teaming agreement between the two companies.

The agreement provides Aerojet Rocketdyne with the right to market and sell Fakel’s low-power Hall thrusters.

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Earlier this week, NASA announced the selection of eight astronaut candidates from among more than 6,000 applicants.

But, what exactly does being astronaut candidate mean? What do they need to go through to become actual astronauts? Turns out the answer is: A lot!

The following excerpt from a NASA document summarizes the training they will go through over the next two years and what their responsibilities as astronauts will be once they successfully complete it.
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A crew at FMARS in the Canadian Arctic. (Credit: Mars Society)

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (Mars Society PR) — The Mars Society announced today the selection of nine crew members chosen to participate in the Mars Arctic 365 mission (Phase 1) this July at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) on Devon Island in the Canadian High Arctic. This will be the thirteenth crew to inhabit the FMARS facility since its establishment in July 2000, continuing the Mars Society’s pioneering work in organizing sustained field exploration while operating under Mars mission constraints.

Scheduled to be in Canada for two weeks, the new crew will install key equipment and infrastructure and also upgrade systems needed to support the one-year Mars surface simulation expedition (Phase 2), which will begin in the summer of 2014. The visit to FMARS is also expected to include a limited duration Mars simulation exercise to provide crew members with an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with technical and human factor considerations which are likely to be faced by the first human explorers to the Red Planet.

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Hawthorne, CA (SpaceX PR) – Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) was awarded a contract with Thales Alenia Space to launch Turkmenistan NSSC to geostationary transfer orbit in late-2014 or early 2015 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

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LAS CRUCES, NM (NMSGC PR) — The New Mexico Space Grant Consortium today successfully completed its fifth Student Launch Program launch event from Spaceport America near Las Cruces, N.M. More than 60 NASA Summer of Innovation students and teachers watched as four primary experiments were propelled into space aboard a SpaceLoft-5 rocket, provided by UP Aerospace. Additional university experiments and other items were also on the rocket, which reached an altitude of approximately 74 miles and experienced 17 Gs of force at a speed of Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound at approximately 3,800 mph).

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Successful launch of SL-7 from Spaceport America on June 21, 2013. (Credit: Spaceport America)

Spaceport America, NM (NMSA PR) – New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) officials announced the launch today of the first NASA “Flight Opportunities Program” rocket designed to reach sub-orbital space. The public launch of SpaceLoft™ XL 7 (S-7) took place this morning from Spaceport America’s Launch Complex-1. This launch marks the 11th flight since 2006 at Spaceport America conducted by UP Aerospace and the 19th overall flight from the spaceport.

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