Hawthorne, CA / Luxembourg, September 12, 2012 (SpaceX/SES PR) – Today Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and SES (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) announced an agreement to launch three additional SES satellites, on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy rockets.

(more…)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA on Wednesday released a request for proposals for the first of two contract phases to certify commercially developed space systems in support of crewed missions to the International Space Station. Through these certification products contracts, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) will ensure commercial missions are held to the agency’s safety requirements and standards for human space transportation system missions to the space station.
(more…)

Yesterday, I ran into Colin Ake, director of business development for Masten. He told me that Masten already has a new Xaero vehicle being assembled on the shop floor in Mojave that will replace the one lost in a flight accident on Tuesday. The new vehicle already had been in the works.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation has weighed in on the Masten failure with a look-on-the-bright-side press release titled, “Masten Completes Their Test Objectives; Xaero Not Recovered”.

(more…)

Hey everyone. Greetings from Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl, the Tournament of Roses Parade, and (for this week only) the AIAA Space 2012 Conference & Exposition. Not much news being made this week, but here are a few tidbits: Orbital Sciences Corporation is STILL waiting for the Commonwealth of Virginia to turn over the Antares launch site on Wallops Island. The turnover is expected to occur soon. Once it […]

WASHINGTON  (NASA PR) — NASA will provide special live programming of the public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral to honor the life and career of astronaut Neil Armstrong at 10 a.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept. 13. The memorial will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed online by the agency’s and National Cathedral’s websites.

NASA Television will air two high-definition feeds of memorial starting at 9:45 a.m. NASA TV’s Public Channel (channel 101) will carry the service, complete with on-screen identification fonts of the participants. The agency’s Media Channel (channel 103) will broadcast a clean feed. NASA TV’s Education channel will carry the complete service in standard definition.
(more…)

Hey everyone. I’m down in Pasadena today covering the afternoon sessions of the AIAA Space 2012 Conference & Exposition. There was a plenary session on NASA’s beyond Earth orbit exploration plans earlier, and then there are individual sessions for the rest of the day. A few things to note: SLS and Orion Everything is on course for an Orion test flight aboard a Delta IV rocket in late 2013 NASA […]

The Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. (Credit: NASA)

Florida Today reports that a local airport authority is seeking to run the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility:

The owner of three local general-aviation airports now wants to take over operations of Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility as part of a two-pronged approach to attract more space-related companies to the area.

(more…)

Masten Space Systems’ Xaero vehicle crashed during a test flight in Mojave on Tuesday. according to the company’s blog:

Today, Masten Space Systems conducted a flight test of Xaero to 1 km altitude with the intention of testing flight controls at higher ascent and descent velocities. Our test objectives were met and initial results show the vehicle performed better than expected at altitude. However, the vehicle was lost during final approach to landing, and the initial cause appears to be a throttle valve failure. The most important thing is that our team is safe and with the data from this test, we expect to be flying again soon!

Thanks for your support!

(more…)

Hey everyone! Uwingu’s campaign closes on Friday! They’re aiming to raise $75,000. Let’s see if we can help them get there. Click on the graphic to the right and donate today! Uwing is a space-themed, for-profit start up.  Uwingu’s mission is create a new funding stream for space exploration, research, and education efforts around the world. Uwingu (which means “sky” in Swahili, and is pronounced “oo-wing-oo”) was formed by a […]

Lynx mockup. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

Mojave, California and Tukwila, Washington, September 11, 2012 (XCOR PR) – XCOR Aerospace announced today that the Lynx Mark I suborbital reusable launch vehicle (RLV) wing strake assemblies will be manufactured by FiberDyne Advanced Composites of Tukwila, Washington.