Tag Archives: SpaceX

Rocket Lab has been awarded a contract for $24 million with the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) to develop the upper stage system of the Neutron launch vehicle, Rocket Lab announced. The funding will support improvements in support of national security and defence requirements.

The Turkish government announced launching its first domestically built communications satellite on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch of Turksat 6A is scheduled for Q1 of 2023. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure did not disclose further details of the contract. Turksat 6A is being built by the TÜBİTAK Space Technologies Research Institute.

SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, Resilience, touched down in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida on Saturday. The spacecraft carried the four members of the Inspiration4 mission safely back to Earth after spending three days in LEO. SpaceX loaded the capsule onto its recovery ship in less than an hour so that the crew could exit.

NASA announced it will grant US $146 million to five US companies to conduct studies for future lunar lander concepts. This will enable a “steady pace of crewed trips to the lunar surface under the Artemis program,” NASA said. The five companies and their awards are Blue Origin: US $25.6M, Dynetics: US $40.8M, Lockheed Martin: US $35.2M, Northrop Grumman: US $34.8M and SpaceX: US $9.4M.

SpaceX is launching four civilians into space on Wednesday, 8:00 pm ET from launch pad 39A, at NASA's Kennedy Center, Reuters reports. The three-day mission marks the first time to enter Earth orbit with exclusively private citizens. The news comes after billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos both conducted few-minute space flights during the summer.

NASA has selected SpaceX to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission, the U.S. space agency said. The total cost for NASA to launch GOES-U is $152.5 million, which includes the launch service and other mission-related costs, NASA said. The mission is targeted to launch in April 2024.

Yahsat has chosen SpaceX to launch its Airbus Defence and Space-built Thuraya 4-NGS next-generation mobile connectivity satellite, the companies announced. The terms of the contract have not been disclosed by either side. Yahsat selected Airbus to develop Thuraya 4-NGS last year. The preliminary design review in June found that the development of the satellite was on schedule.

Two Australian satellites were successfully launched through Japanese Space BD on August 29, 2021 at 3:14 a.m. EDT, Space BD announced. This marks the first satellite launch for both the State of Western Australia, and the Australian Research Council Training Centre for CubeSats, Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles and their Applications (CUAVA), and the first overseas launch for Space BD.

SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft launched at 3:14 a.m. EDT Sunday on a recycled Falcon 9 rocket to go to the ISS, NASA said. Carrying more than 2170 kg of cargo, it lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX’s 23rd Commercial Resupply Services mission is scheduled to dock at the station around 11 a.m. today.

Blue Origin moved its first stainless steel test tank to Launch Complex 36 in Florida by modular transport to prepare it for testing. The prototype is part of Project Jarvis aiming to develop a fully reusable upper stage for the New Glenn rocket. The tank will undergo a series of tests to determine its strength and capability to hold pressurised propellants, Ars Technica reports.