US Air Force – Page 16 – Spaceflight Now

Air Force stays the course with SpaceX rocket certification

July 2, 2015 Stephen Clark

Sunday’s Falcon 9 rocket failure may have blemished SpaceX’s success record, but the mishap will not keep the entrepreneurial space company from competing for U.S. military launch contracts with rival United Launch Alliance, according to an Air Force general.

SpaceX cleared to launch U.S. national security satellites

May 27, 2015 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that SpaceX is now eligible to compete for launches of U.S. national security satellites, closing a tumultuous chapter in the U.S. rocket industry and ending the Pentagon’s sole reliance on United Launch Alliance to haul military payloads into orbit.

ULA, SpaceX face off in landmark Air Force launch competition

May 13, 2015 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force has identified the launch of a next-generation GPS navigation satellite for the first in a series of competitive rocket procurements between United Launch Alliance and SpaceX, service officials announced Wednesday.

U.S. military’s X-37B space plane lands in California

October 17, 2014 Stephen Clark

The U.S. Air Force’s X-37B space plane concluded its third mission, streaking through the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and gliding to an automated landing on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., after spending a record 675 days in orbit.

GPS modernization continues with quick pace of launches

October 13, 2014 Stephen Clark

A new satellite launched Aug. 1 has joined the U.S. Air Force’s GPS navigation network to help guide everything from bombs to road trippers to their destinations, with final preparations on track to send up another GPS spacecraft at the end of October.

X-37B space planes to move into shuttle hangars

October 8, 2014 Stephen Clark

Boeing engineers are outfitting two decommissioned space shuttle hangars at the Kennedy Space Center for the U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane.