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China says it landed a reusable spacecraft after a two-day flight
China says it has landed a reusable spacecraft after two days in orbit, possibly helping it compete with the US Air Force's X-37B.
Air Force's X-37B space plane lands after record 780 days in orbit
There was no doubt that the US Air Force's X-37B was going to break its own record for time spent in orbit, but it's now clear by how much. The mysterious Boeing-made space plane has landed at Kennedy Space Center after 780 days in orbit, comfortably surpassing the earlier record of 717 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes. That's more than three times the 240 days originally expected from the reusable vehicle, which just finished its fifth mission.
Falcon 9 misses landing after latest SpaceX mission to the ISS (update)
SpaceX has made sure it's got its money's worth out of the Falcon 9. On Wednesday, the rocket successfully launched for a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Unfortunately, though, the milestone was marred by a missed landing of the booster's first stage.
SpaceX drops plans to make Falcon 9 rockets more reusable
For a while, SpaceX has dreamed of making its Falcon 9 rocket as reusable as possible, and not just the first stage. Now, though, it's having a change of heart. SpaceX has scrapped plans to make the rocket's second stage reusable. Instead, Elon Musk said, it's focused on "accelerating" development of the BFR. Musk also teased a significant design shake-up, calling it "delightfully counterintuitive" and a "radical change" compared to the previous design.
Watch SpaceX's first West Coast ground landing at 10:21PM ET (update: success)
SpaceX may be an old hand at rocket landings by this point, but there are still a few firsts left. The private spaceflight company is launching Argentina's SAOCOM 1A satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 10:21PM Eastern (7:21PM Pacific), and you'll want to watch what happens on the way down. If all goes according to plan, this will be SpaceX's first ground landing on the West Coast -- it used a drone ship for California missions until now. You can start watching live on YouTube (below) 15 minutes before takeoff.
SpaceX rocket survives an intentional water landing
Right now, SpaceX is only reusing rockets to a limited degree -- it's disposing of vehicles after a short while when they're unlikely to survive their next flight. With its latest launch, though, it got lucky. Elon Musk has confirmed that the Falcon 9 first stage from the GovSat-1 launch survived its intentional water landing. It was only meant to test a "very high retrothrust landing" for the sake of protecting the drone ship and was expected to meet an untimely end, but it appeared to have survived largely intact.
SpaceX's capsule 're-flight' is a space travel milestone
SpaceX just took one step closer to making reusable private spacecraft seem entirely ordinary. The company has confirmed that its previously used Dragon capsule splashed down on the morning of July 3rd, making it the first commercial spacecraft to re-fly to and from the International Space Station. There wasn't a lot of drama involved (the biggest challenge was getting the vessel into orbit), but that's arguably the point -- it's supposed to be a non-event.
SpaceX test fires the first Falcon 9 it landed on a barge
SpaceX failed to launch a used Falcon 9 rocket back in May or June last year like it originally planned, but it's getting closer to its goal. The private space corporation had its historic Falcon 9 booster -- the very first one it successfully landed on a barge in April 2016 -- complete a static fire test at its Texas facility recently. It has revealed the development on Twitter and Instagram, where the company announced that it's "prepping [the booster] to fly again."
SpaceX is launching one of its last disposable rockets
SpaceX won't have to intentionally crash some of its rockets going forward. Elon Musk has revealed that SpaceX's next flight, which has a Falcon 9 delivering an EchoStar satellite as soon as January 30th, should use the company's last expendable rocket. This rocket will burn too much fuel for its first stage to attempt a landing (the satellite is simply too heavy at 5.4 imperial tons), but future big-payload launches will use either the higher-performance Falcon 9 (Block 5) or Falcon Heavy and shouldn't have trouble coping with the weight. The new Falcon should lift off at the end of 2017, Musk says.
Blue Origin successfully tests its crew escape system
Blue Origin's escape system test went by without a hitch. Jeff Bezos' private spaceflight outfit successfully ejected the crew capsule from the New Shepherd rocket about 45 seconds after launch, shooting it away at about 400MPH before parachutes carried it safely to Earth. On top of this, Blue Origin landed New Shepherd again -- there were worries that the capsule's rocket would damage the booster and prevent it from landing safely. You can watch it yourself below, starting at the 1:05:58 mark.
Jeff Bezos' next rocket is a massive, reusable booster
Jeff Bezos isn't about to let SpaceX have the private heavy-duty rocket field to itself. Blue Origin has introduced New Glenn (named after astronaut John Glenn), a massive reusable booster rocket that makes SpaceX's Falcon Heavy look modest. The two-stage model already dwarfs the Falcon at 270 feet tall, while the three-stage version is nearly as tall as the legendary Saturn V at 313 feet. Yes, it's more than a little Freudian, but it'll be helpful getting both satellites and people into space.
Watch SpaceX try its second ground landing (update: success!)
Now that sea-based rocket landings are relatively commonplace for SpaceX, the company is hoping to achieve repeat success with ground landings. Elon Musk and crew are launching a Dragon capsule full of cargo to the International Space Station on July 18th at 12:45AM Eastern, and they're using this nighttime mission to attempt the second-ever ground landing of a Falcon 9 rocket. You can watch SpaceX's live stream below starting at 12:25AM.
Blue Origin lands its reusable rocket a fourth time
Blue Origin's reusable rocket is practically running like clockwork. The private spaceflight outfit has successfully landed its New Shepard rocket a fourth time (during its first-ever live stream), touching down with a seemingly effortless amount of grace. Jeff Bezos and company weren't just showing off, though. They also successfully tested the redundancy of the crew capsule's parachute system, showing that the capsule can survive even if one of the chutes fails. We're still a long way from testing a manned capsule (the windows are still painted on in this version), but it's an important step toward the goal of lower-cost space travel. You can watch the entire replay below -- if you want to cut to the chase, the launch starts around the 1h 2m mark.
Watch Blue Origin's third landing from the rocket's point of view
Sure, you can watch reusable rocket landings from the ground as much as you want, but have you wondered what it'd be like if you were strapped to one of those rockets? Blue Origin sure has. Jeff Bezos' spaceflight outfit has released a video showing its third landing from the booster rocket's view (specifically, a vent), starting with the moment before it reenters the atmosphere. What's surprising is how the change in perspective underscores the speed of the whole operation -- you're looking at a dramatic view of Earth in one moment, and the American desert the next. This sort of camera angle will eventually become run-of-the-mill, of course, but it's worth watching while reusable rockets are still novelties.
Here's a close look at SpaceX's historic rocket landing
SpaceX's much-hyped rocket landing was impressive, but you didn't exactly get a good look at it if you were watching live. It seemed more like a matchstick putting itself out, really. Not to worry, though: SpaceX has delivered an ample supply of photos and video documenting every step of this milestone in private spaceflight. They help illustrate the challenge involved -- SpaceX had to bring a tall, fire-belching Falcon 9 down to Earth relatively quickly while keeping it stable. While this probably won't be the last time you see reusable rocket technology in action, it's certainly one of the more dramatic examples.
SpaceX will try to launch and land a rocket Monday night
SpaceX has been understandably quiet since its last rocket exploded right after launch, but it's hoping to make up for that failure in style. It's planning to not only launch a Falcon 9 rocket on December 21st at 8:29PM ET, but attempt its first-ever ground landing with that rocket -- no doubt in hopes of countering Blue Origin's landing from a few weeks ago. Even if the touchdown fails, it'll still be an important launch as ORBCOMM gets 11 communications satellites into orbit. Tune in to the live stream below (coverage should start at 8:05PM) and you'll see whether or not SpaceX has better success on terra firma than it did at sea.Update (12/21): You can watch the live stream of the launch attempt right here.[Image credit: SpaceX Photos, Flickr]
Jeff Bezos beats Elon Musk's SpaceX in the reusable rocket race
Blue Origin, the private space firm owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, has just dropped a huge gauntlet in the race to develop a reusable rocket. It just launched its New Shepard space vehicle (video, below), consisting of a BE-3 rocket and crew capsule, to the edge of space at a suborbital altitude of 100.5 kilometers (62 miles). The capsule then separated and touched down beneath a parachute, but more importantly, the BE-3 rocket also started its own descent. After the rockets fired at nearly 5,000 feet, it made a a controlled vertical landing at a gentle 4.4 mph.
Can microwave-powered shuttles make space travel cheaper?
How much does it take to launch a satellite? According to Rocket Lab's Peter Beck "You pretty much have to write a check for a billion dollars." Beck, along with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are part of a new wave of inventors looking to make this cheaper by developing low cost or reusable rockets for launches. The folks at Escape Dynamics, however, have a very different idea about how to make trips to space economical for people who aren't multi-millionaires. The company claims that it's successfully tested the engine for a reusable spaceplane that, rather than being stuffed to the gills with expensive fuel, would glide into the stratosphere on a wave of microwave energy.
SpaceX shows how its heavy-lifting rocket will (hopefully) work
SpaceX's Falcon Heavy has yet to grace a launch pad, but that isn't stopping the company from extolling the reusable rocket's virtues. Elon Musk and crew have posted an animation (below) demonstrating how a typical mission with the heavy-duty reusable rocket should go. As you might imagine, everything goes smoothly in this conceptual clip -- the machine blasts off from Kennedy Space Center, detaches its Falcon 9 boosters (which dutifully return to the ground) and puts its payload into orbit. Success!
SpaceX's reusable rockets get help from 'X-wing' fins and drone ships
SpaceX's reusable rockets already have a few tricks up their metal sleeves, but it looks like they're getting at least a couple more. Elon Musk has revealed that his company is testing new technologies that will assist future Falcon 9 launches, including "X-wing style" control fins and a drone ship. The fins deploy on reentry and give the rocket better maneuvering than it would have through engine power alone. The robot boat, meanwhile, amounts to an "autonomous spaceport" -- it uses thrusters from oil rigs to provide a safe, stable landing pad (and eventually, refueling station) in situations where a ground facility isn't an option. Musk hasn't said when this vessel will go into use, but you can expect to see the Falcon 9's new controls in action on its next flight.
