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Iridium Communications announced that it has targeted the upcoming Iridium Next launch for Sept. 30 at 6:30 a.m. PDT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This launch will deliver another 10 Next satellites to orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and will bring the total number of satellites deployed to 30. SpaceX’s targeted launch...

Elon Musk is determined to revolutionize the transportation industry with his ambitious Hyperloop concept, despite public criticism that the idea is unrealistic. He faced a similar challenge when he set out to revolutionize the launch industry with SpaceX. Here, we revisit our interview with Musk...

Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully tested its third RS-25 engine flight controller this week at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The RS-25 engine will propel the United States’ next-generation heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), into space. The flight controller is slated to fly on the inaugural mission of the SLS, which will propel...

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Rocket Crafters Inc. (RCI) a $542,600 research contract, for which RCI is tasked to build and test a rocket engine using its patented Direct-Digital Advanced Rocket Technology (D-DART). During the eight-month period of performance, Rocket Crafters aims to design, build, and test a 5,000 lbf peak thrust, throttle-capable...

Sierra Nevada Corporation has selected United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) commercially developed Atlas 5 rocket to launch the first two missions of its Dream Chaser cargo system in support of NASA’s Cargo Resupply Services 2 (CRS2) contract. The two Atlas 5 missions will carry pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The first...

The Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced the successful launch of two Norwegian microsatellites developed and built by SFL for the Norwegian Space Center with support from the Norwegian Coastal Authority, Space Norway, and the European Space Agency (ESA). The Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying the two satellites launched from Baikonur on Friday, July 14, and also...

As part of its Two-Stage-To-Orbit (TSTO) technology program, the European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Orbital Access a 200,000 euro ($227,890) contract for the next stage of the development of the company’s Orbital 500R satellite launcher. The contract covers a four-month project to further refine the performance of the launcher and prepare for the next preliminary...

  After two last-minute aborts over the holiday weekend, SpaceX successfully orbited a satellite for operator Intelsat on Wednesday evening, July 5. At 7:38 p.m. EDT, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center and delivered the Intelsat 35e satellite into Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). Intelsat 35e, the...

Twice this weekend, once on July 2 and again the day after, SpaceX cancelled the launch of an Intelsat satellite with less than 10 seconds left on the liftoff countdown. The company stated that a violation of abort criteria caused the delay. While the U.S. Air Force approved a third launch window for Wednesday evening...

The United Kingdom must regulate on a risk-aware, yet enabling, basis — allowing low cost launch capabilities, including space planes, to be the "steam locomotive" of the 21st century.