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Orbital ATK eyes Kennedy Space Center as home of potential new launcher
NASA announced Thursday that Orbital ATK has begun negotiations to lease a disused section of Kennedy Space Center's iconic Vehicle Assembly Building and an Apollo-era launch platform for the company's proposed next-generation rocket.
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.
VideoBlue Origin’s reusable New Shepard booster flies again
Two months after it flew into space and landed smoothly, Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard booster made the trip again Friday, proving it can be reused for future space tourism jaunts and laying the groundwork for a future commercial satellite launcher, the company said.
Orbital ATK, SpaceX nab U.S. Air Force propulsion contracts
Orbital ATK and SpaceX won Pentagon contracts worth a combined value of up to $241 million Wednesday in public-private partnerships crafted to hasten the U.S. military's move away from Russian-supplied propulsion to deliver national security satellites to orbit.
Round-trip rocket flight gives SpaceX a trifecta of successes
Flying through the sky at supersonic speed, a Falcon 9 rocket stage descended to a historic landing at Cape Canaveral on Monday, returning to the spaceport minutes after boosting 11 Orbcomm communications satellites toward orbit on SpaceX’s first mission since a major failure in June.
VideoBezos-backed Blue Origin achieves rocket landing
A suborbital rocket booster built by Blue Origin, an entrepreneurial space firm founded by Internet tycoon Jeff Bezos, streaked into space in the skies over West Texas and descended to a pinpoint propulsive touchdown on a landing pad, the company announced Tuesday.
VideoQ&A with Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, the Internet pioneer behind Amazon.com, spoke with reporters Nov. 24 after a historic flight of the company’s suborbital New Shepard launch vehicle that ended with a successful vertical rocket-assisted touchdown at a landing pad in West Texas.
ULA selects launch pads for new Vulcan rocket
United Launch Alliance's next-generation Vulcan rocket will lift off from the company's existing Atlas 5 launch facilities in Florida and California, according to the company's Vulcan program manager.
Boeing rejects bid to buy ULA as engine race heats up
Boeing said Wednesday it has turned down an offer from Aerojet Rocketdyne to buy United Launch Alliance, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture that operates the Atlas and Delta rocket fleets.
Bezos to locate commercial rocket base in Florida
Blue Origin, the burgeoning, often secretive space company led by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, revealed plans Tuesday to build and launch reusable rockets on Florida's Space Coast, adding another commercial tenant for historic real estate at Cape Canaveral.