Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched NASA’s Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, seen from a window on the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. Image: NASA.
After weeks of debate, NASA has ruled out bringing two astronauts back to Earth aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule because of lingering concerns about multiple helium leaks and degraded thrusters, both critical to a successful re-entry, officials said Saturday.
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, Boeing’s Crew Flight Test Commander and Pilot respectively, inspect safety hardware aboard the International Space Station. Image: NASA
NASA is at a crossroads when it comes to the conclusion of the Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test. The agency is set to announce its decision on whether or not to return NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on Starliner as originally intended or on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.
The crew of the Polaris Dawn mission pose in front of the Alpha jets they flew in on to the Kennedy Space Center. Left to right: Mission Specialist Anna Menon, Pilot Scott “Kidd” Potent, Commander Jared Isaacman, Mission Specialist Sarah Gillis. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
The four-member crew of what is set to be an historic spaceflight arrived in Florida on Monday. Against the backdrop of clear blue skies and summertime humidity, the quartet of astronauts descended from the camouflage clad Dassault Alpha jets owned by the mission’s commander, Jared Isaacman.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stood at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of a static fire test of the first stage booster. It will be used to launch the Starlink 10-5 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit. A Falcon 9 rocket will carry 22 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit after launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
On Monday, SpaceX fired the nine Merlin engines on its Falcon 9 rocket ahead of the planned launch of the Starlink 10-5 mission on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. The booster, B1085, will also launch the Crew-9 mission for NASA no earlier than Sept. 24. Image: Spaceflight Now
SpaceX completed a test fire of a brand-new Falcon 9 rocket that will eventually carry the Crew 9 mission to the International Space Station. The static fire test and a “shakedown” mission were ordered for the booster after it suffered moisture intrusion on its way from SpaceX’s McGregor test facility in Texas to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A collection of smallsats integrated ahead of SpaceX’s rideshare mission, Transporter-11, ahead of encapsulation within the payload fairings. Image: SpaceX
Update 4:25 p.m. EDT: SpaceX confirms successful deployment of the first 69 satellites out of 116 total payloads. Its third upper stage burn out of four is coming up in about 15 minutes.
The fully integrated EscaPADE satellites sit inside a clean room at Rocket Lab’s Space Systems Group facility in Long Beach, California. Image: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab is gearing up for its first mission to another planet. In the fall, two of its spacecraft will hitch a ride onboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket to begin their 11-month trek to Mars.
The next two WorldView Legion satellites, which will be the company’s first spacecraft in MIO, are seen here at Maxar Space Systems’ manufacturing facility in Palo Alto, California, shortly before shipment to the launch site. Image: Maxar
SpaceX is preparing to launch a pair of Maxar Space Systems’ WorldView Legion satellites to a mid-inclination orbit Thursday morning. The 30 cm-class imaging satellites will ride to space atop a Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
NASA officials continue to review data on the Starliner spacecraft as they determine how best to conclude the mission and return both the spacecraft as well as its crew back to Earth.
The Fram2 crew, seen during a visit to SpaceX’s Hawthorn, Calif., manufacturing facility. Left to right: Eric Philips, Jannicke Mikkelse, commander Chun Wang and Rabea Rogge. Image: SpaceX.
A blockchain entrepreneur, a cinematographer, a polar adventurer and a robotics researcher plan to fly around Earth’s poles aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule by end of year, becoming the first humans to observe the ice caps and extreme polar environments from orbit, SpaceX announced Monday.
An illustration of the two Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) program satellites on orbit. Illustration: Northrop Grumman
SpaceX is looking to complete its second launch of the weekend with a mission for Space Norway. The company is targeting a Sunday evening launch of its Falcon 9 rocket for the Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM).
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Launch Complex 39A in preparation for launching the Starlink 10-7 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is preparing for the second of three planned launches over the weekend. A Falcon 9 rocket will send 23 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit after launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
This 2013 artist’s concept shows the NASA’s WISE spacecraft, in its orbit around Earth. In September of 2013, engineers brought the mission out of hibernation to hunt for more asteroids and comets in a project called NEOWISE. Graphic: NASA
A spacecraft that helped bolster planetary defense is now at the end of its operational mission. On Thursday, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California sent the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft into its final hibernation mode by shutting off its transmitter.
A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
SpaceX is preparing to launch its latest batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Friday morning launch will add another 21 satellites to the mega-constellation in low Earth orbit.
A streak shot of Firefly Aerospace’s fifth launch of its Alpha rocket on a mission named “Noise of Summer.” Image: Firefly Aerospace/Sean Parker
Coming on the heels of another large launch deal, Firefly Aerospace announced it sold up to 20 flights on its Alpha rocket to L3Harris. The agreement would see these missions fly between 2027 and 2031.
Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft that launched astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station is pictured docked to the Harmony module’s forward port. Image: NASA.
As NASA debates the safety of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in the wake of multiple helium leaks and thruster issues, the agency is “getting more serious” about a backup plan to bring the ship’s two crew members back to Earth aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon, officials said Wednesday.
NASA officials aim to add context to some of its recent changes to the manifest of the International Space Station. It will host a media teleconference on Wednesday, Aug. 7, to discuss the timelines of the SpaceX Crew-9 launch, the Crew-8 return to Earth and the impacts to the schedule from the ongoing Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test.
The crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station poses during training at SpaceX’s Hawthorne facility. Image: SpaceX
NASA is delaying the launch of the next space station crew as it continues to work through thruster issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. In a blog post, the agency said the launch of the Crew-9 mission, aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, is now targeted for no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24.
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft separates from a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage during the NG-21 mission on Aug. 4, 2024. Image: SpaceX
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft is preparing to end a roughly 40-hour journey playing catchup with the International Space Station. After launching late Sunday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the spacecraft is targeting its arrival at the orbiting outpost Tuesday morning.
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft is pictured docked to the space-facing port on the International Space Station’s Harmony module. Dragon Freedom carried four Axiom Mission-2 astronauts to the orbital lab on May 22, 2023, including Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi. Image: NASA
The full crew of the fourth private astronaut mission to the International Space Station was announced on Monday as they officially began training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is looking to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Sunday morning. The launch attempt comes after it stood down from launching a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft from Florida due to poor weather.
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