Virgin Galactic test pilots have developed procedures that greatly improve takeoff and balanced field length performance of the WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft.
The first of Russia's upgraded Soyuz crew transports departed the International Space Station (ISS) late Oct. 29 and descended to Earth in remote Kazakhstan to end a 115 day assignment aboard the orbiting science laboratory for NASA's Kate Rubins, Russia's Anatoli Ivanishin and Japan's Takuya Onishi.
In this week’s Washington Outlook: companies create new ways to contain potential battery fires; the hunt for new space policy champions; and a recommendation for changing remote-sensing regulations.
In this week’s roundup, the CH-53K is poised for production; an Indian and French company create a joint venture for helicopter maintenance; Embraer pays at least $205 million to settle corruption charges and a U.S. weather satellite breaks up in space.
The Chinese seem to be following in the footsteps of their former Soviet allies, developing a space presence that could lead to low-Earth-orbit commercial possibilities.
The rendezvous and docking of Shenzhou-11, a manned mission launched on Oct. 17, with the Tiangong-2 orbiting laboratory relied on improved technology.
Missions tend to fare better when countries share information and technology. That certainly appeared to be the case last week - from Russia's Soyuz launch , to China's Shenzou mission, Antares's return to flight, and a rocky landing on Mars.
NASA’s faltering commercial-spaceflight endeavor enjoys a spectacular return to flight of the Orbital ATK Antares launcher laden with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS).
Musk’s approach is flawed. If he truly believes that what is at stake is the long-term survival of humanity, then he should not expect to charge people $200,000 for the trip, opines Antoine Gelain.
Orbital ATK’s Antares launch vehicle has returned to flight two years after a spectacular liftoff explosion en route to the International Space Station with a load of supplies.
Two Chinese astronauts have lifted off for the the Tiangong 2 docking target, a Salyut-class mini-space station acting as a training ground for operations at the larger orbital laboratory planned for launch in 2022.
In this week’s Washington Outlook: a White House official looks at continued cooperation with India, including fighter sales; Obama touts Mars exploration; and Southwest Airlines starts flights to Cuba.
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, two billionaires with ambitious visions for space colonization, have markedly different approaches to settling the ‘final frontier.’
NASA’s original 2015 goal of certifying commercial space vehicles to service the ISS has not been met but, despite setbacks, Boeing still hopes to make it happen by late 2018.
In this week’s Washington Outlook, research funding for advanced helicopter engines; the SpaceX-ULA spat; managing risk at the border and the hunt for counter-UAV technology.
In this week’s roundup, U.S. Army upgrades Hellfires; Philippines receive Korean light attack aircraft; Romania accepts Portugese F-16s; managing space traffic.
Engineers at Blue Origin validated the “full-envelope” escape system for its six-seat suborbital passenger capsule with a successful abort test Oct. 5 16,000 ft. above the West Texas desert.
As the number of smallsat constellations grows, international satellite tracking bodies see increased risk of space debris problems unless mitigations measures are adopted.
