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Launch preparations continue for NASA’s next Mars rover
On track for launch from Cape Canaveral in July, NASA's Perseverance rover has been secured to its rocket-powered descent stage and back shell, part of the protective shield that will safeguard the robot when it arrives at Mars next year.
Spy satellite launch on Delta 4-Heavy rocket delayed to August
The next flight of United Launch Alliance's triple-barrel Delta 4-Heavy rocket has been delayed from June to late August, military officials said Friday.
Payloads revealed for next flight of X-37B military spaceplane
The next flight of the U.S. military's reusable X-37B spaceplane -- scheduled for liftoff May 16 from Cape Canaveral -- will carry more experiments into orbit than any of the winged ship's previous missions, including two payloads for NASA and a small deployable satellite built by Air Force Academy cadets.
Companies release new details on human-rated lunar lander concepts
The next time astronauts land on the moon, they will ride to the lunar surface in a spacecraft that looks a lot different than the Apollo-era landing module last used in 1972. Lander concepts proposed by SpaceX, Blue Origin and Dynetics -- which won a combined $967 million in NASA funding Thursday -- take wildly different approaches to carrying crews to the moon.
ULA begins stacking rocket for next launch of U.S. military spaceplane
United Launch Alliance technicians raised the first stage of the company's next Atlas 5 rocket onto a mobile launch platform at Cape Canaveral Thursday, kicking off the launch vehicle's build-up for a mission scheduled for liftoff May 16 with the U.S. military's hush-hush X-37B spaceplane.
ULA delivers Delta 4-Heavy rocket to California launch base
United Launch Alliance’s rocket transport ship has delivered a Delta 4-Heavy rocket to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California in preparation for launch of a U.S. government spy satellite late this year.
Ground teams fuel Perseverance rover landing system, attach Mars Helicopter
Working under the cloud of the global coronavirus pandemic, technicians and engineers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have installed a rotor-driven drone on the agency's next Mars rover and fueled the spacecraft's "sky crane" landing system in preparation for launch in July.
Next GPS launch delayed by coronavirus concerns; X-37B launch remains on track
U.S. military officials said Tuesday the launch of the next satellite for the GPS navigation network -- planned for April 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket -- has been delayed to no earlier than June 30 to avoid exposing launch crews to the COVID-19 viral disease. However, the next launch of the military's X-37B spaceplane remains on track for liftoff in May on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, officials said.
Space companies rally to supply medical equipment amid pandemic
While production of rockets and satellites continues across much of the space industry amid the coronavirus pandemic, engineers at several space companies -- including SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and Blue Origin -- have started working on medical devices and protective equipment in response to shortages in hospitals across the United States.
After problem-plagued test flight, Boeing will refly crew capsule without astronauts
Boeing officials said Monday the company's Starliner crew capsule will fly a second time without astronauts after software problems and other issues plagued a first test flight in December, preventing the ship from reaching the International Space Station.