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Boeing nears fix for CST-100 Starliner design hitch
Boeing engineers are close to resolving concerns with the mass and aerodynamic shape of the company's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew carrier, and officials are optimistic the spaceship will be ready to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station in early 2018.
First astronaut flight on Boeing capsule slips to 2018
The first piloted test flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule has been delayed to early 2018 as designers wrestle with the mass of the spacecraft, aerodynamic loads the vehicle will see during launch, and new software requirements levied by NASA, company officials said.
Q&A with John Elbon, VP and general manager of Boeing’s space exploration division
Boeing's work on the International Space Station, the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule and NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System are under the umbrella of John Elbon, who leads the company's space exploration division in Houston.
Q&A with Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA
United Launch Alliance chief executive Tory Bruno spoke with Spaceflight Now's Stephen Clark at the 32nd Space Symposium in Colorado Springs.
Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA
The U.S. Defense Department's internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon's contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent procurement in favor of the company.
InSight Mars lander escapes cancellation, aims for 2018 launch
The InSight Mars lander has won a reprieve from NASA's top managers after persistent problems with one of the probe's science instruments caused the mission to miss a narrow launch window planned for this month.
ULA’s candidates to replace RD-180 engine win Air Force funding
The Pentagon has awarded at least $162 million in contracts to Aerojet Rocketdyne and United Launch Alliance for development of the AR1 and BE-4 rocket engines, candidates to power the first stage of a next-generation rocket and replace the Russian-made engine currently flying on the Atlas 5 launcher.
Fate of NASA’s InSight Mars mission to be decided soon
NASA is close to deciding whether to spend an extra $150 million to send the InSight lander to Mars in 2018 or cancel the mission after an instrument problem made the spacecraft miss a launch opportunity this year, with a verdict on the project's future expected within weeks, officials said.
Florida spaceport tallies highest launch rate in more than a decade
Cape Canaveral was the departure point for more space launches in 2015 than in any year since 2003, with 17 takeoffs by Atlas, Falcon and Delta rockets hoisting U.S. military satellites, commercial payloads and cargo for the International Space Station.
Russian engine purchase adds to ULA’s Atlas 5 inventory
Freed from a legal restriction officials said limited its ability to compete for future U.S. military satellite launches, United Launch Alliance has ordered 20 new RD-180 engines from Russia that will keep the Atlas 5 rocket flying into the early 2020s.