Commercial Space – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

SpaceX’s Dragon cargo capsule arrives at space station

July 27, 2019

A SpaceX Dragon supply ship arrived at the International Space Station Saturday carrying a new docking mechanism, a spacesuit for future spacewalks, and a 3D bioprinter to test the feasibility of manufacturing human tissue in microgravity.

SpaceX’s Starship prototype aces first untethered hop test

July 26, 2019

An early test model of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, which billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk says will carry people and cargo to the moon and Mars, briefly left the ground on its first untethered test flight Thursday night powered by the company’s new methane-fueled Raptor engine.

New docking port, spacesuit and supplies en route to space station

July 25, 2019

A break in thunderstorms streaming across Central Florida allowed a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule to blast off Thursday from Cape Canaveral in pursuit of the International Space Station with a new docking mechanism, a spacesuit and 40 mice acting as high-flying research specimens.

Chinese private company reaches orbit for first time

July 25, 2019

A startup company named i-Space became the first Chinese private firm to achieve orbit Thursday with a successful launch of a light-class Hyperbola 1 booster.

Threatening storms scrub SpaceX launch

July 24, 2019

SpaceX called off a Falcon 9 countdown Wednesday due to the threat of lightning from thunderstorms along Florida’s Space Coast, pushing back the departure of a cargo mission for the International Space Station until Thursday.

Video: SpaceX CRS-18 pre-launch press conference

July 24, 2019

NASA and SpaceX officials briefed the media Wednesday on the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo capsule on a resupply flight to the International Space Station.

Live coverage: SpaceX cargo ship arrives at space station

July 24, 2019

Nearly two days after launching from Cape Canaveral, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft arrived at the International Space Station on Saturday with more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, food, experiments and a new docking mechanism. Astronauts aboard the station captured Dragon using the Canadian-built robotic arm at 9:11 a.m. EDT (1311 GMT).

Rocket Lab announces August launch with commercial and military satellites

July 23, 2019

Rocket Lab’s next launch from New Zealand in August will carry four small spacecraft into orbit for BlackSky’s Earth-imaging constellation, the U.S. Air Force, and a French startup developing a fleet of maritime surveillance satellites, the company announced Monday.

Ariane 5 launch delayed in aftermath of Vega failure

July 20, 2019

The next flight of an Ariane 5 rocket, previously set for next week, has been delayed to no earlier than July 30 to review the readiness components it has in common with the Vega rocket after a launch failure earlier this month.

Falcon 9 rocket test-fired ahead of station cargo launch

July 19, 2019

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at Cape Canaveral Friday evening, igniting nine Merlin engines for several seconds while hold-down restraints kept the launcher on the ground. The company also confirmed the rocket is scheduled for takeoff Wednesday on a space station resupply mission, three days later than previously planned.