Pacific Missile Range Facility

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.

Video clips show rocket anomaly high above Hawaii

November 4, 2015 Stephen Clark

Videos of Tuesday’s sunset liftoff of the U.S. military’s Super Strypi launcher show the low-cost fin-guided rocket streaking into the skies over Hawaii and arcing downrange toward the south with 13 satellites before apparently losing control and breaking up.

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.

Inaugural launch of small-class rocket on hold in Hawaii

October 29, 2015 Stephen Clark

The maiden test flight of a new rail-guided launcher from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed while engineers resolve issues encountered in pre-launch preparations, a U.S. Air Force spokesperson said.

NASA confident in finding fix for test parachute failure

June 9, 2015 Stephen Clark

One day after a supersonic parachute crafted to land robots on Mars failed on a test flight high above Hawaii, NASA officials said Tuesday a jackpot of high-resolution video recordings and other data from the otherwise successful experiment should lead to design improvements.

Huge parachute shredded during Mars entry experiment

June 8, 2015 William Harwood

Flying more than twice the speed of sound 34 miles above Hawaii, a flying saucer-shaped test vehicle successfully inflated a doughnut-like airbrake, technology needed to slow heavy payloads down during descent to Mars, but a parachute ripped apart in the $230 million program’s second straight failure.

Debut flight of rail-guided space launcher slips to October

March 23, 2015 Stephen Clark

The first flight of a new rail-guided satellite launch system from a military missile range in Hawaii has been delayed until late October due to problems with the rocket’s first stage motor, according to a U.S. Air Force official.