OTTAWA, Ontario (AIAC PR) — The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) is very pleased with measures announced in the Economic Action Plan 2013 released today in Ottawa.
“The measures announced in the 2013 Economic Action Plan constitute an excellent short-term response to the Aerospace Review report released in December,” said Jim Quick, President & CEO of AIAC.
Spacevidcast’s Ben and Cariann Higginbotham talk to XCOR COO Andrew Nelson, who has a detailed update on the company’s progress in building the first Lynx suborbital vehicle.
Aviation Week has an update on XCOR’s development of the Lynx Mark 1: Speaking to Aviation Week before the recent rocket test, Greason says aside from the continuing propulsion development work, the focus remains on assembly of the vehicle itself. “I’m happy with the progress, but not always with the schedule,” says Greason, who adds that the company “still has a way to go” before entry into service. We have […]
Oviedo, FL (Black Sky Training PR) — Today the FAA awarded Black Sky Training the first ever safety approval for space training. This signals that the FAA/AST continues the commitment to safety for the flying public that began in 1958.
“The flying public has come to expect the highest level of safety for its passengers, and training for the men and women whose job it is to transport passengers to and from their destinations. By establishing a standard protocol for training of the flying public and flight crews, they [the FAA/AST] have signaled the burgeoning space flight industry that nothing but the highest safety standards are to be provided to the passengers.”
Masten Space Systems’ Xombie technology demonstration rocket soars aloft, guided by Draper Lab’s GENIE navigation and control system designed to land space vehicles on other bodies in the solar system. (Credit: NASA /Tom Tschida)
MOJAVE, Calif. (NASA PR) – A rocket-powered, vertical-landing space-access technology demonstrator reached its highest altitude and furthest distance to date March 25 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif., using a developmental navigation system designed to land a space vehicle on other celestial bodies.
Atlas V launches OTV3 into orbit from Cape Canaveral. (Credit: Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance.)
Over at InnerSpace.net, Stewart Money is pushing for an end to ULA’s current monopoly on military launches by letting SpaceX fully compete for contracts immediately:
In the meantime, with news of defense cutbacks and the impacts of sequestration, which Administrator Bolden pointed out yesterday is a 10 year program, presented in dire tones almost daily, why exactly is it that United Launch Alliance, utterly uncompetitive on the commercial market, and with no meaningful program of technology improvement remotely on par with that being undertaken by SpaceX, still enjoys a competition-free firewall around 80% of its business, and worse, much worse, is still receiving an annual launch subsidy ranging between $500 million and $1 billion per year?
It’s a good question. The answer lies in understanding how the military performs its duties in keeping the nation safe, and in the different statuses of the two company’s launch vehicles.
CASTOR 30XL motor. (Credit: ATK)
ARLINGTON, Va., March 28, 2013 (ATK PR) — ATK (ATK) successfully tested its newly developed CASTOR® 30XL upper stage solid rocket motor today at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) in Tennessee.
The test was the final qualification for the ATK commercial motor, which was jointly developed by ATK and Orbital Sciences Corporation (ORB) in just 20 months from concept to completion. The CASTOR 30XL is designed to ignite at altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet. In order to accurately test the motor performance, the static fire was conducted at AEDC using a vacuum chamber specially designed to simulate upper atmospheric conditions. Initial data indicate the motor performed as designed, and ATK will now analyze the results against its performance models.
Dragon captured at ISS. (Credit: NASA TV)
A “very tiny change” to three check valves during manufacturing caused the malfunction that disabled three of four thruster pods on the Dragon spacecraft that launched earlier this month, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday.
Speaking at a joint post-mission press conference with NASA officials, Musk said three check valves on the oxidizer tank became stuck due to the changes. Programmers were able to write software that commanded an increase of pressure upstream of the valves, forcing them open in a spacecraft version of the Heimlich maneuver, he added.
Dragon recovery (Credit: SpaceX)
Dragon Post-Mission Press Conference
Participants
Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator
Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist
Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer and CEO, SpaceX
Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President and COO
Opening Remarks
Bolden:
SpacX Founder Elon Musk
At a joint press conference with NASA earlier today, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said the company will try a water landing of its Falcon 9 first stage later year.
The landing will be the start of a series of flight tests that could culminate with an attempted propulsive landing of a first stage back at its launch site in the middle of 2014, Musk said.
