Spaceflight

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 […]

NASA and contractor SpaceX announced Thursday this week’s launch of an unmanned supply capsule to the International Space Station will be postponed until January to conduct further testing. NASA said issues during a test of the Falcon rocket engines at Cape Canaveral this week will require investigation. A possible launch date on the morning of […]

On December 5, 2014, NASA flew the new Orion deep space vehicle for the first time, launched by a Delta Heavy booster. In this NASA-provided footage, the first part of the mission is detailed. view on YouTube

NASA’s Orion unmanned spacecraft successfully launched, orbited the Earth and splashed downFriday morning on its first test flight, one day after the liftoff was scrubbed due to weather and mechanical problems.Orion, a prototype capsule for future manned space missions, made two laps around the Earth, rode its Delta IV rocket up to 3,600 miles, then […]