Space Test Program – Page 3

Q&A with Keith Gendreau, principal investigator of the first X-ray space communications experiment (members only)

May 7, 2019 Stephen Clark

Keith Gendreau, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, recently spoke with Spaceflight Now about a new experiment on the International Space Station to demonstrate X-ray communications in space for the first time.

SpaceX cargo ship reaches space station

May 6, 2019 William Harwood

A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship caught up with the International Space Station early Monday and then stood by while Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques, operating the lab’s robot arm, locked onto the spacecraft to wrap up a two-day rendezvous.

Rocket Lab deploys experimental U.S. military smallsats on first night launch

May 5, 2019 Stephen Clark

On its first nighttime launch, Rocket Lab’s Electron booster climbed into orbit Sunday from New Zealand with a trio of small U.S. military payloads, demonstrating the privately-developed rocket’s ability to help meet the Air Force’s growing demand for smallsat launches.

SpaceX launches space station resupply mission, lands rocket on drone ship

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

With a thundering, sky-lighting predawn blastoff from Cape Canaveral, a Falcon 9 rocket fired into orbit early Saturday with a Dragon cargo capsule in pursuit of the International Space Station. Minutes later, the rocket’s first stage booster fell from the sky and executed a pinpoint propulsive landing just offshore, setting the stage for another resupply mission for NASA this summer using the same vehicle.

Video: Falcon 9 launch as seen from KSC press site (members only)

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Watch a replay of the Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as seen from the Kennedy Space Center press site roughly 4 miles away.

Live coverage: Rocket Lab launches three U.S. military smallsats

May 4, 2019 Stephen Clark

Three experimental satellites sponsored by the U.S. military lifted off on an Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s commercial spaceport in New Zealand on Sunday at 0600 GMT (2 a.m. EDT).

Falcon 9 launch scrubbed by problem on landing ship

May 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

An electrical problem on SpaceX’s drone ship parked just off the coast of Cape Canaveral prompted SpaceX to scrub a Falcon 9 launch attempt early Friday, delaying the start of a resupply mission to the International Space Station by 24 hours.

Live coverage: SpaceX cargo ship captured by space station’s robotic arm

May 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

Two days after launching from Cape Canaveral with nearly 5,500 pounds of supplies and experiments, an automated SpaceX Dragon cargo craft approached the International Space Station Monday. The Dragon supply ship was grappled by the station’s robotic arm at 7:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT).

Launch timeline for SpaceX’s 17th space station resupply mission

May 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will go from Cape Canaveral to low Earth orbit in less than 10 minutes Saturday with a Dragon capsule heading for the International Space Station carrying nearly 5,500 pounds of supplies and experiments.

Falcon 9 rocket completes static fire test, aims for launch early Wednesday

April 27, 2019 Stephen Clark

A week after a test-firing of SpaceX’s new crew capsule went awry, SpaceX successfully completed a hold-down firing of its next Falcon 9 launcher Saturday morning at Cape Canaveral in preparation for a predawn liftoff Wednesday carrying several tons of food, supplies and experiments to the International Space Station.