Government/Military

Computer models show the Ares I rocket — being developed to launch the next-generation Orion U.S. spaceship — could come to grief at liftoff, an Orlando Sentinel report said. Models show the tall rocket could be shoved sideways by a moderate southeast breeze, slamming it into the launch tower and possibly destroying the lifter, the...

Indian Moon Orbiter Will Send Probe To Lunar Surface European, Other Instruments On Orbiter Will Study Moon India launched an unmanned spacecraft headed for the moon, marking a further emergence of the south Asian economic powerhouse as a major spacefaring nation. Liftoff of the Indian lunar shot came as the United States is preparing to...

The competition to supply private commercial space transport services to NASA is heating up, as The Boeing Co. [BA] joined a PlanetSpace team that already included Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] and Alliant Technsystems Inc. [ATK]. That big-time PlanetSpace team faces competition from Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, and from Orbital Sciences Corp. [ORB], which...

NASA Now May Not Lose Four Months Of Pioneering Data From Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope, after being sidelined by multiple glitches, is edging slowly back toward operational capability, and NASA experts believe they probably know one root cause of the crisis: a simple, momentary short circuit or open circuit. Since the cause of...

Czech Republic Parliament Backs Government, 97-96 Czech Vote On European Missile Defense Site Expected During Next Two Months The Czech Republic Parliament narrowly permitted the Czech government, which backs plans to install a missile defense system in Europe, to survive a no-confidence vote. Parliament voted 97-96 for the government. Some 101 votes would have been...

With the presidential election looming just a week from tomorrow, missile defense programs may face tighter financial times no matter whether Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, the Democratic White House hopeful, or Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican standard-bearer, wins. The outlook for spending on space programs is less clear, but it is a...

While Democrats may be tempted to cut defense spending and redirect funds to programs propping up a weakened economy, it would be a disastrous mistake to slash funding for ballistic missile defense programs, especially those that kill enemy missiles in their most vulnerable phase of flight. Democrats especially shouldn’t touch funding for the Airborne Laser...

Space Shuttle Endeavour was carried from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center to Launch Pad 39A in preparation for a nighttime launch at 7:55 p.m. ET Nov. 14 on the 15-day STS-126 Mission to the International Space Station, NASA announced. The seven-hour trip from pad to pad, at less than 1 mph, had been...

The Boeing Co. [BA] launched the third of four Italian Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation (COSMO), or SkyMed, spacecraft. A Delta II rocket procured from United Launch Alliance (ULA) for Thales Alenia Space Italia lifted off from Pad SLC-2W at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft was deployed to low-Earth...

But Company Making Soyuz Vehicles Faces Financial Peril, Needs Cash Soon Two Second-Generation Space Travelers Make Return Trip On Earth-Bound Soyuz A Russian Soyuz spacecraft returned International Space Station crew members to Earth in a gentle landing that contrasted markedly with the dangerous steep descents of the two prior reentries and landings of Soyuz vehicles....