Stephen Clark – Page 239 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Starship prototype aces first untethered hop test

July 26, 2019 Stephen Clark

An early test model of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, which billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says will carry people and cargo to the moon and Mars, briefly left the ground on its first untethered test flight Thursday night powered by the company’s new methane-fueled Raptor engine.

New docking port, spacesuit and supplies en route to space station

July 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

A break in thunderstorms streaming across Central Florida allowed a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule to blast off Thursday from Cape Canaveral in pursuit of the International Space Station with a new docking mechanism, a spacesuit and 40 mice acting as high-flying research specimens.

Chinese private company reaches orbit for first time

July 25, 2019 Stephen Clark

A startup company named i-Space became the first Chinese private firm to achieve orbit Thursday with a successful launch of a light-class Hyperbola 1 booster.

Threatening storms scrub SpaceX launch

July 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX called off a Falcon 9 countdown Wednesday due to the threat of lightning from thunderstorms along Florida’s Space Coast, pushing back the departure of a cargo mission for the International Space Station until Thursday.

Watch a live view of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket awaiting liftoff (members only)

July 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

Spaceflight Now members can watch a live view of pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff on a resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Video: SpaceX CRS-18 pre-launch press conference

July 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA and SpaceX officials briefed the media Wednesday on the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule on a resupply flight to the International Space Station.

Live coverage: SpaceX cargo ship arrives at space station

July 24, 2019 Stephen Clark

Nearly two days after launching from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, food, experiments and a new docking mechanism. Astronauts aboard the station captured Dragon using the Canadian-built robotic arm at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT).

NASA taps Northrop Grumman in sole-source agreement to build Gateway habitat

July 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

Racing against the clock to meet the Trump administration’s 2024 deadline to land astronauts on the moon, NASA plans to select Northrop Grumman to build a pressurized habitation module derived from the company’s Cygnus cargo craft for living quarters for crews transiting to and from the lunar surface.

Rocket Lab announces August launch with commercial and military satellites

July 23, 2019 Stephen Clark

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand in August will carry four small spacecraft into orbit for BlackSky’s Earth-imaging constellation, the U.S. Air Force, and a French startup developing a fleet of maritime surveillance satellites, the company announced Monday.

First moon-bound Orion crew capsule declared complete, major tests remain

July 22, 2019 Stephen Clark

Teams working at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week connected a U.S.-built Orion crew module with its European-made power and propulsion element for the first time, a significant accomplishment ahead of the spacecraft’s shipment to Ohio this fall for testing inside the world’s largest vacuum chamber.