August 2018 – Spaceflight Now

Station crew faces busy schedule as commercial crew schedule ramps up

August 31, 2018 William Harwood

An impromptu repair job Thursday appears to have stopped a leak in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked to the International Space Station, and the crew was back on its normal schedule Friday carrying out research and making preparations for the arrival of a Japanese cargo ship next month.

Virgin Orbit nears first test flights with air-launched rocket

August 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

The attachment of a mounting bracket for Virgin Orbit’s smallsat launcher under the wing of a modified passenger jetliner portends the start of a series of captive carry tests with a full-scale model of the rocket, culminating in a drop of the vehicle before the first orbital launch attempt.

Q&A with Dan Hart, president and CEO of Virgin Orbit (members only)

August 31, 2018 Stephen Clark

Dan Hart leads a staff of hundreds of engineers and technicians developing LauncherOne, a commercial air-launched booster intended to hurl small satellites weighing up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) into orbit.

Cosmonauts plug small air leak on the International Space Station

August 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two cosmonauts living aboard the International Space Station plugged a small hole in the hull of a Soyuz ferry craft with a wipe and sealant Thursday, stabilizing the air pressure inside the orbiting research outpost after engineers detected a minor leak.

Live coverage: Space station crew investigating slow pressure leak

August 30, 2018 Stephen Clark

Crew members aboard the International Space Station are investigating a tiny pressure leak on the Russian side of the orbiting outpost. The crew traced the leak to a small hole on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft, which ferried a three-person crew to the station in June. Mission control is examining options to repair the damage, and NASA says the crew is not in danger.

Watch live: SLS Mobile Launch Platform moves to pad 39B (members only)

August 30, 2018 Spaceflight Now

Watch live as NASA moves the mobile platform intended to carry NASA’s Space Launch System to launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Two NASA probes catch first glimpses of primordial targets

August 29, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two NASA spacecraft — the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission and the New Horizons probe at the edge of the solar system — have captured their first looks at their targets as they approach a pair of primordial relics for the first time.

Installation of ice-measuring satellite caps assembly of last Delta 2 rocket

August 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s ICESat 2 satellite has been bolted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as ground teams prepare for the final liftoff of the workhorse launcher Sept. 15.

SLS mobile launch platform to go on the move this week

August 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

The mobile platform intended to carry NASA’s Space Launch System will trek to the mega-rocket’s launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida as soon as Thursday, before heading inside the spaceport’s huge Vehicle Assembly Building for the first time next month.

China sets new national record for most launches in a year

August 27, 2018 Stephen Clark

Two navigation satellites joined China’s growing Beidou network with a successful rocket flight Friday that set a new record for the most Chinese space launches in a year.