Aerojet Rocketdyne

Aerojet Rocketdyne wins propulsion contracts worth nearly $1.4 billion

November 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

NASA and Boeing have awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne widely-anticipated contracts to restart the production of simplified shuttle-era rocket engines for the heavy-lift Space Launch System and supply the propulsion system for the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew capsule, officials announced this week.

Air Force declares failure on Super Strypi test launch

November 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first flight of an experimental U.S. military rocket designed for low-cost, quick-reaction satellite launches ended in failure over Hawaii on Tuesday, the Air Force said, destroying 13 small research spacecraft clustered on the mission for NASA researchers and university students.

Hawaii’s first satellite launch set for Tuesday

November 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

U.S. military authorities have granted approval for liftoff Tuesday of a simplified satellite launcher from Hawaii on a test flight officials say will help drive down the costs of sending small spacecraft into orbit.

Meet the the Super Strypi launch vehicle

November 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force has released the first-ever photos of the Super Strypi launch vehicle, a souped-up version of a Cold War-era sounding rocket about to be shot into orbit on a unique demonstration flight with 13 small satellites.

Live coverage: Maiden flight of Super Strypi launcher fails

November 3, 2015 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force fired a new rail-launched rocket into space from Hawaii at 10:45 p.m. EST Tuesday (0345 GMT Wednesday), but the Super Strypi vehicle failed about a minute after liftoff with 13 satellites on-board.

Two Antares failure probes produce different results

November 1, 2015 Stephen Clark

An Orbital ATK investigation into last year’s Antares rocket crash in Virginia identified a decades-old manufacturing defect inside an AJ26 engine turbopump as the most likely cause of the failure, but a team of NASA engineers was not so sure in their report.

One year after Antares failure, Orbital ATK nears return to flight

October 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

A year after a launch mishap left Orbital ATK’s Cygnus supply ship without a ride to the International Space Station, company officials say the cargo delivery system is on the verge of a comeback, thanks to deals with United Launch Alliance and a decision to redesign its Antares booster with new rocket engines.