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NASA, SpaceX clear Crew Dragon for critical March 2 test flight
NASA managers held a flight readiness review Friday and cleared SpaceX to press ahead with work to ready a Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon commercial ferry ship for launch March 2 on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.
SpaceX files protest of NASA’s Lucy launch contract awarded to ULA
SpaceX has filed a protest challenging a nearly $150 million NASA contract awarded to United Launch Alliance last month to send a robotic asteroid probe into space.
CubeSat deployed from space station to test sample return technology
One of five CubeSats deployed from the International Space Station last month is testing a steerable drag brake that could find use in future smallsats to return experiment samples to the ground from low Earth orbit, or on low-cost micro-probes to explore other planets.
First unpiloted test flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule reset for March 2
As expected, NASA announced Wednesday that the first unpiloted test flight of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a Crew Dragon astronaut ferry ship has slipped from later this month to March 2. The first unpiloted flight of Boeing's Starliner capsule is now targeted for the April timeframe.
ULA wins contract to launch NASA’s Lucy mission to visit unexplored asteroids
NASA has selected United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket to dispatch the Lucy spacecraft on a mission from Cape Canaveral in October 2021 to fly by seven unexplored asteroids, including six objects locked in orbits leading and trailing Jupiter, where scientists expect swarms of miniature worlds could hold clues about the formation of the solar system.
Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in key test ahead of Crew Dragon demo flight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sporting human-rating upgrades such as new composite pressurant tanks briefly ignited its nine Merlin engines Thursday afternoon on a launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and SpaceX later declared the pre-launch milestone complete in preparation for a critical test flight with a commercial crew capsule as soon as late February.
Video: Zoomed in view of ignition of Falcon 9 engines in prelaunch test (members only)
Watch a zoomed in view of the Falcon 9 rocket with the first Crew Dragon capsule atop, briefly fire its engines for a crucial pre-launch test on Jan. 24, 2019 at launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center.
Video: Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon briefly ignites engines (members only)
Watch as a Falcon 9 rocket with the first Crew Dragon capsule atop, briefly fired its engines for a crucial pre-launch test on Jan. 24, 2019.
Boe pulled from commercial crew test flight due to medical issue
Eric Boe, one of three astronauts assigned to the first piloted test flight of a Boeing CST-100 Starliner commercial crew ship later this year has been removed from the mission due to unspecified medical issues, NASA announced Tuesday. He will be replaced by veteran astronaut Mike Fincke.
Live coverage: Falcon 9 with Crew Dragon briefly fires engines in test
The Falcon 9 rocket set to launch the SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule on a test flight in February briefly ignited its Merlin main engines on pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday. The Crew Dragon test flight to the International Space Station is a precursor to the spaceship's first mission with astronauts later this year.