Tag Archives: space launch

Avantus Federal, formerly known as E3/Sentinel, and rocket developer Interorbital Systems have agreed to jointly offer space launch services to the federal sector under a strategic partnership agreement.

Blue Origin is working to convince the U.S. Air Force to continue to fund the development of the New Glenn rocket in order to get it certified to perform national security missions, SpaceNews reported Monday. “We’re discussing with the Air Force the path forward for certification,” said Megan Mitchell, director of government and legislative affairs at Blue Origin.

Christian Zur of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Scott Kordella of Mitre wrote in an opinion piece published Tuesday on Federal Times that the U.S. needs to have a “single operational picture” to facilitate timely and accurate monitoring of aircraft and space systems and enable the space launch sector to safely coexist with the aviation industry.

Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance and a previous Wash100 award winner, said ULA and other launch services providers have business continuity plans in place to deal with pandemics, fires, hurricanes and other emergencies and added that the company continues to support forthcoming missions amid the coronavirus outbreak, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have rescheduled the launch date of a new scientific satellite into low Earth orbit for Oct. 10 after both parties completed a joint review into technical issues concerning a rocket sensor.

Northrop Grumman plans to launch its Cygnus spacecraft Wednesday on a mission to deliver approximately 7.6K pounds of scientific equipment and supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX has started preparations for the uncrewed test flight of its new Crew Dragon spacecraft scheduled for mid-January, Space.com reported Sunday. The company in the past week transferred the spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to Launch Pad 39A at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX hopes to launch Crew Dragon …

Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, told SpaceNews in an interview published Wednesday that he thinks the competition in the market for military space launches “is good for the country.” “We’re seeing a broadening of the lift industrial base,” he said. ULA is one of the three companies …

Rita Lane, a more than two-decade technology industry veteran, has joined the board of directors of L3 Technologies. L3 said Wednesday Lane’s appointment increases the number of L3’s board members to 10. “She is a proven leader with an extensive engineering and operational background, as well as expertise in innovation across global businesses,” …

A classified U.S. government payload launched aboard a SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, Space.com reported Sunday. The Zuma mission took off aboard the rocket’s second stage, which continued its ascent into low-Earth orbit. The booster’s first stage …

A spokesperson for SpaceX has said the company intends not to land the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage as part of a mission to launch Iridium Communications’ fourth batch of 10 Iridium NEXT satellites into space, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. Iridium’s satellites are scheduled Friday to take off aboard SpaceX’s Falcon …

United Launch Alliance is developing a reusable rocket stage that would stay in low Earth orbit and support activities in space, Quartz reported Saturday. Tim Fernholz writes ULA CEO Tory Bruno said a fleet of the company’s future Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage will work to support large-scale LEO activities as the company envisions …

NASA will launch the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Friday to deliver 7,000 pounds of science experiments, crew supplies and hardware to the International Space Station as part of the eighth Commercial Resupply Services mission. The agency said Wednesday the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift …

NASA has launched Orbital ATK‘s Cygnus spacecraft that will carry more than 7,000 pounds of cargo for delivery to the International Space Station. The OA-6 mission launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station late Tuesday marks the company’s fifth operational mission under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services program, the agency said Wednesday. Cygnus is expected to dock …

A report commissioned by U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James urges the military service to adopt a flexible approach to evaluating and approving rockets for national security-related launches, SpaceNews reported Monday. Mike Gruss writes Larry Welch, a former Air Force chief of staff and retired general, led the broad …