Spaceflight

The ever-intriguing X-37B space plane is slated for its fourth mission in May, this time to experiment with a propulsion system for military satellites, the Air Force announced this week. The target launch date is May 20, according to multiple news sources. The military has revealed little about past missions, prompting broad speculation about what […]

SpaceX will try again to land its Falcon 9 rocket on a floating barge in June, when its next mission to the International Space Station is scheduled. Tuesday’s launch of the rocket to take the Dragon supply spacecraft to the station was a success, but the landing was not. The rocket made it to the […]

We caught up with space-tourism company World View Enterprises’ CEO Jane Poynter at the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in Dallas, Texas. Poynter described the technology behind World View’s balloon-and-parafoil plan to lift passengers into the upper atmosphere for a several-hour tour of the planet. Duration: 9:42 File Size: 8.1 MB download here

SpaceX is planning its next launch to resupply the International Space Station at 4:33 p.m. EDT on April 13, NASA announced this week. The space station mission for the Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Dragon spacecraft, will be the sixth for SpaceX. The mission will launch from Cape Canaveral and if it starts on schedule, […]

A few companies this month confirmed their plans to develop cargo spacecraft for this year’s round of bids for NASA contracts to service the International Space Station, according to a Washington Post report.On Tuesday, Sierra Nevada Corp. announced a version of its manned reusable vehicle, modified for cargo missions. The Dream Chaser Cargo System will […]

The other night, I saw a video report-one of several, actually-about how some government agency was lit up because it’s beginning to look like 3-D printing will be capable of making parts for firearms. In passing, it mentioned that complex airplane parts would soon be producible by 3-D technology. Yeah, I thought, when pigs fly. […]

Maybe you haven’t used a 3-D printer to make your own cogs or dowels (yet), but Jim Bertel and Joel Smith of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing are putting additive manufacturing to work in mankind’s final frontier – outer space. Duration: 13:43 File Size: 12.5 MB download here

The European Space Agency had a successful test of its unmanned mini-spacecraft Wednesday, launching theIntermediate eXperimental Vehicle and recovering it after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The design of the IXV spaceplane, as the ESA calls it, will ultimately result in a reusable spacecraft. The big push now is to develop re-entry capability and data […]

SpaceX successfully launched an unmanned supply mission to the International Space Station on Saturday morning, but an attempt to soft land and recover the booster to a barge at sea failed. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk Tweeted Saturday, “Close, but no cigar. Bodes well for the future tho’. Ship itself is fine. Some of the support […]

Unless you’re reading AVweb late Monday, by the time you read this Tuesday morning space launch history either will or won’t have been made. We ought to know for sure by about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. In case you haven’t been paying attention-and it hasn’t gotten much coverage-SpaceX is launching another of its robotic re-supply missions […]