CLPS – Spaceflight Now

ULA test-fires first Vulcan rocket at Cape Canaveral

June 7, 2023 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket completed a critical test-firing of its Blue Origin-built BE-4 main engines Wednesday night, clearing one of two remaining technical hurdles before the launcher is cleared for its inaugural flight later this year.

ULA delays Vulcan test-firing to troubleshoot engine ignition system

May 26, 2023 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance called off a test-firing of the company’s first flight-rated Vulcan Centaur rocket at Cape Canaveral Thursday to troubleshoot a problem with the booster’s engine ignition system.

First Vulcan rocket rolls back to hangar for ‘adjustments’ prior to test-firing

May 16, 2023 Stephen Clark

United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan rocket was filled with methane and liquid oxygen propellants at Cape Canaveral last week for a tanking test, but managers decided to move the rocket back inside a hangar for a few adjustments before proceeding with an engine test-firing.

Astrobotic selects SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch robotic lunar lander

April 13, 2021 Stephen Clark

A commercial lunar lander built by Astrobotic will launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in late 2023 to deliver a water-hunting NASA rover to the moon’s south pole, officials announced Tuesday.

NASA challenges companies to mine lunar soil

September 11, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA announced Thursday it plans to purchase lunar soil from a commercial company, an effort the agency’s top official said is intended to set a precedent for the transfer of ownership of extraterrestrial material and stimulate a market harvesting resources from bodies throughout the solar system.

Intuitive Machines announces moon mission’s launch date, landing site

April 15, 2020 Stephen Clark

Intuitive Machines, under contract to carry NASA science instruments to the moon on a privately-developed robotic spacecraft, said this week its first commercial lunar mission will target landing in October 2021 near a deep, narrow valley named Vallis Schröteri.

NASA awards robotic lunar landing contract to Masten Space Systems

April 14, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA has awarded Masten Space Systems, a small company based in Mojave, California, a $75.9 million contract to deliver nine science and technology instruments to the moon’s south pole in 2022 with its XL-1 robotic lunar lander.

In parallel with rocket development, Firefly launches lunar lander initiative

April 1, 2020 Stephen Clark

A souped-up version of the Israeli Beresheet moon lander built in Texas could be ready to carry NASA science and technology payloads to the lunar surface before the end of 2022, according to officials from Firefly Aerospace.

SpaceX offering Starship to NASA for lunar landing missions

November 19, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is eligible to propose using its next-generation Starship vehicle to carry NASA robotic science payloads to the lunar surface, the U.S. space agency announced Monday, on missions that could precede future Starship flights with people on-board. SpaceX is one of five companies NASA selected Monday to join a roster of commercial transportation providers to deliver scientific instruments and technology demonstration packages to the moon as soon as 2022.

NASA’s VIPER rover in development for scouting mission to moon’s south pole

October 30, 2019 Stephen Clark

Building on a mission canceled last year, NASA is developing a mobile robot named VIPER for launch in 2022 to scout for water ice at the moon’s south pole, the same region where the agency aims to land astronauts by 2024.