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SpaceX wins contract to launch first pieces of NASA’s Gateway lunar outpost
NASA announced Tuesday it has awarded SpaceX a $331 million contract to launch the first two pieces of the Gateway lunar outpost in 2024 using a modified version of the Falcon Heavy rocket to hurl the massive core of the deep space station toward the moon.
No SpaceX doubleheader for now, but range is ready for two launches in a day
One of the two Falcon 9 rockets SpaceX planned to take off in a span of less than five hours earlier this week will remain grounded indefinitely, preventing Cape Canaveral from hosting two launches on the same day for the first time in decades. But the military-run Eastern Range was ready for the back-to-back missions, and probably won't have to wait long for the next chance for a launch doubleheader.
VideoSpaceX Starship prototype lost in test flight landing mishap
SpaceX launched a prototype Starship rocket Tuesday from its Boca Chica, Texas, flight facility, successfully sending the silver booster up to an altitude of about six miles as planned. But the unpiloted test flight ended with a spectacular explosion when the rocket failed to right itself and slow down enough for a tail-first landing.
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Second high-altitude Starship test flight ends in landing explosion
Starship completed a successful climb to approximately 10 kilometers altitude and then descended horizontally toward the landing site. It appeared to lose control as it was in the process of flipping back to a vertical position and exploded as it bellyflopped onto the landing pad. Watch a replay of the test flight.
VideoFAA approves Starship test after saying SpaceX violated safety rules on last flight
SpaceX defied public safety rules on its most recent Starship launch over South Texas in December, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday as it approved a license for SpaceX's next high-altitude Starship test flight scheduled for the same day.
Starliner test flight next on ULA’s launch schedule after military mission delay
The U.S. Space Force has decided to delay the planned late February launch of two military satellites aboard a ULA Atlas 5 rocket to "evaluate readiness" of one of the payloads, giving officials a window to move forward the liftoff of an unpiloted test flight of Boeing's Starliner crew capsule to no earlier than March 25.
Hydraulic system issue triggered early engine shutdown during SLS test-firing
NASA officials said Tuesday the weekend test-firing of the Space Launch System moon rocket's core stage was cut short by an out-of-limits parameter in a hydraulic system for gimbaling, or vectoring, one of its engines. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told Spaceflight Now engineers are "feeling pretty good" about the data gathered during the shortened test-firing, and managers may decide to ship the SLS core stage to the Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations without re-attempting the planned eight-minute hot fire.
Boeing making progress on Starliner software for test flight in March
Boeing said Monday it has re-qualified software for the company's Starliner crew capsule after programming errors cut short the spacecraft's first orbital test flight in 2019, and technicians at the Kennedy Space Center have connected the crew and service modules for the next unpiloted Starliner test flight to the International Space Station in March.
NASA studying cause of early end to moon rocket test-firing
A critical test-firing of NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket in Mississippi ended just 67 seconds after it began Saturday, well short of a planned eight-minute burn that was supposed to clear the way for the space agency to finally ship the rocket's core stage to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for launch preparations.
Video: SLS core stage test-firing ends early
The four RS-25 engines at the bottom of NASA's first Space Launch System core stage shut down about a minute into a ground test-firing Saturday that was supposed to last more than eight minutes.