launch
Latest
SpaceX delays its return to flight until early January
So much for SpaceX resuming rocket launches before 2016 is over. Elon Musk's spaceflight company now expects to launch a Falcon 9 rocket in early January, when it will carry Iridium-1 into orbit. Iridium had previously hinted that the rocket might be ready as soon as December 16th, but SpaceX says it's using the extra time for both vehicle prep and "extended testing" to make sure this return to flight goes according to plan.
ULA justifies pricey space launches with 'RocketBuilder' site
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V is the world's most reliable rocket, with a 100 percent mission success rate over 67 total missions. However, at a base launch rate of $109 million, it's a lot more costly compared to newcomer SpaceX, which has a starting price of $62 million. The raw launch is not the only cost, though, so ULA launched the RocketBuilder website to let potential clients, the press, academics and students configure a rocket like "building a car."
SpaceX to launch ocean-monitoring NASA satellite in 2021
Elon Musk's SpaceX has been awarded a new contract to launch a NASA satellite in 2021. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission will begin at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a Falcon 9 rocket to take the research hardware into orbit. From there, NASA will conduct "the first-ever global survey of Earth's surface water," taking detailed recordings that should explain how our oceans change over time. The total cost of the launch is said to be $112 million, however the money won't be going to SpaceX alone. As the Verge reports, some is being put aside for other organisations providing "additional support."
Sony releases 80-title lineup of PSVR games and apps
When we got our hands on the PlayStation VR, we confirmed two things: One, that the headset and PS4 hardware won't match the performance of a higher-end PC and Oculus Rift or HTC Vive; And two, that's balanced by all the content Sony has lined up. While incomplete lists of the system's upcoming games and apps have been compiled before, Sony has released the full lineup of nearly 80 titles available at or soon after it launches on October 13th.
Watch Nintendo's 3DS-focused Direct here at 10AM ET
Nintendo is giving some love to its handheld 3DS console at its IFA 2016 Nintendo Direct event this year. Expected titles include Shin Megami Tensei 4 Apocalypse, Yo-kai Watch 2, Pokemon Sun & Moon and more. We can also expect some Amiibo figurines that work with Nintendo's New 3DS and New 3DS XL, or on the older models via a reader.
NVIDIA's new top-end graphics card is the $1,200 Titan X
If you recently bought a $599 NVIDIA GTX 1080 in order to have the fastest rig around, I have bad news. NVIDIA has revealed the latest Titan X, a graphics card with 12GB of GDDR5X memory and 3,584 cores running at 1.53 GHZ, yielding an absurd 11 teraflops of performance. That easily bests the 8.9 teraflops of the GTX 1080, which itself put the last-gen Titan X to shame. You probably won't feel too bad, however, when we tell you that the new card has a price tag of $1,200, double that of its now-second-best sibling.
The birth of a spaceport
The government may have ceded the development of spaceships to companies, but Cape Canaveral Air Force Station remains a key site for space exploration. Together with the neighboring Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral played an integral part in the space race, and continues to host launches to this day.
SpaceX doesn't expect to stick the landing of tonight's launch
Make a pot of coffee and curl up in your favorite bunny slippers tonight for another SpaceX rocket launch and attempted sea landing. The Falcon 9 rocket will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:21AM ET on Friday, May 6th, carrying a Japanese communications satellite (JCSAT-14). It's headed for a precariously high orbit, which makes re-entry and landing extra difficult. Still, SpaceX will attempt to set the rocket back down on the "Of Course I Still Love You" barge. Update: And we have another successful ocean landing! The rocket launched on schedule and its first stage landed safely on the drone ship a few minutes later. Check after the break for the ongoing livestream and replay.
Watch SpaceX launch a Dragon supply ship for the ISS today
SpaceX will send another Falcon 9 rocket to the International Space Station today at 4:43PM EDT from its base in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The weather is looking good so far and you'll be able to watch the launch live on the SpaceX webcast.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will launch its rocket a third time
Jeff Bezos' rocket company has already shown its product is reusable, but if it's going to launch "space" tourism, it will have to fly many times. As such, Blue Origin is working fly the New Shepard rocket for the third time on Saturday. According to Bezos, this time the engine will restart fast "just" 3,600 feet above the ground, leaving little room for error on its trip home from the edge of space. Plus, the company's previous tests have only been revealed after the fact, so that's another change. Still, we're not expecting any kind of SpaceX-style livestream, but Bezos says there will be drone cameras in place to get an aerial view of the flight. Whether or not it all works as planned, there should be some exciting footage to share so check back here tomorrow. Update: At least two microgravity science experiments will be along for the ride.
HTC's M10 will have an online launch event on April 12th
April is turning to be a super busy month for HTC. In addition to shipping out the first lot of Vive to consumers, the company will also be launching its next flagship smartphone, the M10 or simply the 10, on April 12th. More interestingly, HTC's email tells us that this will be yet another online event, just like the one it did with the One A9 (but hopefully with more camera angles and close-ups on the device this time). To watch the stream, tune in at 8am New York time or 1pm London time or 8pm Taipei time that Tuesday.
SpaceX will attempt another launch and sea landing today (updated)
SpaceX has been trying to launch a Falcon 9 rocket tasked with carrying a communications satellite for over a week now. After a few scrubbed attempts, the company will give it another go this evening. Today's launch is planned for 6:35PM ET at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Similar to previous tries, SpaceX hopes to successfully deploy the SES-9 satellite before landing the rocket at sea. Thus far, the company hasn't been able to nail the landing after three attempts -- the last of which was foiled by a landing strut failure.
SpaceX's Jason-3 satellite launch looks like it's happening
Between that successful landing the other night and news that the oft-delayed Jason-3 satellite's launch preparations keep progressing toward its scheduled departure, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk likely has some added spring to his step going into Christmas. If you'll remember, work on the ocean-studying satellite stopped after this summer's fumbled launch. With news that the first-and-second stage boosters will be mated come December 28th, however, the launch scheduled for January 17th looks pretty realistic. NASA writes that the next orders of business are tucking the spacecraft into the Falcon 9's payload fairing come January 9th, with a connection to the rocket's second stage three days later.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket sticks the landing on its return
SpaceX's last flight in June ended with its Falcon 9 rocket breaking up shortly after launch. When the rocket is meant to be recoverable after launch, you can see why this would be an... issue. CEO Elon Musk tried to improve his odds, this time around, pushing back the launch of its upgraded Falcon 9 rocket to Monday night. Better weather this evening offered a 10 percent better chance of the rocket booster landing on solid ground in a recoverable state, and for those that watched the stream, it looked like a surprisingly stable landing: a bright flare of light followed by the appearance of a fully vertical rocket -- this was the stage one landing. SpaceX is checking the rocket and satellite payloads now (update: all the 11 satellites were deployed successfully) and we'll update when we hear more.
Watch SpaceX's latest attempt at landing a reusable rocket
Tonight we could possibly see Elon Musk's dream of landing a reusable rocket on a hard surface come true. The test flight for the Falcon 9 is scheduled for 8:29 PM and the live-stream (embedded below, and also available on YouTube) is supposed to kick off at 8:05 PM from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Remember, last time SpaceX tested one of its rockets it failed pretty spectacularly, exploding right after it launched.
SpaceX is on target for a launch-and-land attempt Sunday
We're eagerly awaiting SpaceX's next launch of a Falcon 9 rocket, and CEO Elon Musk tweeted tonight that it "will aim to launch Sunday." This is also the company's first attempt since a rocket exploded shortly after takeoff in June, and another failed to land on an ocean barge in April. A static fire test that took place earlier today "looks good," so if all the data checks out then this could be SpaceX's time to take the reusable rocket crown back from Blue Origin with a ground landing (or at least launch eleven OG2 satellites).Update: In a second tweet this morning, Musk provided more detail, saying the company plans an "attempted orbital launch and rocket landing at Cape Canaveral" Sunday night around 8PM ET.
China launches satellite to unlock dark matter's secrets
Dark matter is that pesky, hidden material that keeps foiling scientists' efforts to come up with a grand unified theory of physics. China's space agency has set about to find it with the launch of DAMPE, the Dark Matter Particle Explorer. It successfully made it into a 500 km (300 mile) high geosynchronous orbit aboard a Long March-2D launch vehicle. The DAMPE satellite is essentially a powerful space telescope tuned for the detection of high-energy gamma rays, electrons and cosmic rays. Once ready, it'll peer into corners of space where scientists believe dark matter lurks.
Here's the Cygnus spacecraft launching in glorious 4K
Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft, laden with more than 7,000 pounds of supplies destined for the International Space Station, finally got off the ground earlier this week and NASA was there to capture the successful launch in 4K ultra high definition. The space agency utilized an array of six UHD cameras positioned around Cape Canaveral AFS to document the event and has posted the footage to its newest YouTube channel, NASA TV UHD. This launch marks the first flight of the Cygnus spacecraft since a disastrous attempt in October, 2014 which saw the Antares rocket carrying it explode shortly after takeoff.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket returns to the skies this month
SpaceX is tentatively planning its next Falcon 9 rocket launch for December 19th at Cape Canaveral, Florida, following a static fire on December 16th. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted the news today, writing, "Aiming for Falcon rocket static fire at Cape Canaveral on the 16th and launch about three days later." This should be a ground landing, following the company's previous attempts to land its rockets on an ocean platform, which is a truly difficult feat.
Orbital Sciences launches first spacecraft since 2014 explosion
After some weather delays, Orbital Sciences has reclaimed some of its lost reputation. The private spacecraft firm has successfully launched Cygnus, its International Space Station resupply mission, aboard an Atlas V rocket. It's a relatively routine unmanned flight carrying over 7,300 pounds' worth of cargo, but it represents an important return to form for the company after its Antares craft exploded on launch last year. Let's just hope this is an auspicious sign for space travel as a whole -- it's had far too many tragedies in recent months.
