May 2018 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX delays launch to run additional tests on rocket

May 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX has delayed the launch of the SES 12 commercial communications satellite from Cape Canaveral until Monday to conduct additional tests on the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage, officials said Thursday.

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo completes second powered test flight

May 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Helmed by two test pilots, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane set new altitude and speed records for the company’s test program Tuesday during a powered flight over California’s Mojave Desert.

Alan Bean, moonwalker turned artist, dies at 86

May 26, 2018 William Harwood

Alan Bean, a Navy test pilot and astronaut who walked on the moon and then spent two months aboard America’s first space station before leaving NASA and becoming an accomplished artist, painting moonscapes and space vistas that garnered widespread critical praise, died Saturday. He was 86.

New helium tank for SpaceX crew launches still waiting to fly

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is still working on a new, safer helium tank design needed for launches with astronauts, and the debut of the company’s upgraded Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket earlier this month did not count as one of seven successful missions in “crew configuration” NASA says it requires before putting astronauts aboard the vehicle, officials said Thursday.

Rocket Lab updates launch window for first commercial mission

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

After a two-month delay to resolve a technical concern, Rocket Lab plans to launch its first commercial mission as soon as June 22, U.S. time, from the company’s rocket base in New Zealand, the company announced Friday.

SpaceX test-fires previously-flown rocket for May 31 launch

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

The nine Merlin main engines at the base of a recycled Falcon 9 rocket booster ignited Thursday night for several seconds during a pre-flight test-firing on a Cape Canaveral launch pad, clearing a major hurdle ahead of a scheduled May 31 liftoff with a high-power communications satellite for SES.

Video: Falcon 9 rocket ignites for hold-down test at Cape Canaveral

May 25, 2018 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket ignited its main engines at Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad Thursday night, clearing a major hurdle before liftoff May 31 with the SES 12 communications satellite.

Watch a live view of SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch pad (members only)

May 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of Cape Canaveral’s Complex 40 launch pad, where a Falcon 9 rocket is set to undergo a static fire test Thursday in advance of a commercial satellite launch May 31.

Cygnus arrives at station with CubeSats, quantum physics experiment

May 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

Closing out a three-day chase from a launch pad in Virginia, Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo freighter arrived Thursday at the International Space Station with nearly 7,400 pounds of equipment, delivering food, a quantum physics experiment, and CubeSats for later deployment in orbit.

Photos: Blues skies make for spectacular Falcon 9 launch in California

May 24, 2018 Stephen Clark

A threatening layer of clouds stayed away from SpaceX’s launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, allowing for clear viewing of a spectacular Falcon 9 launch carrying commercial and scientific satellites into polar orbit.