Tag: spaceflight

Virgin Orbit’s first launch demo takes place this weekend

Virgin Orbit is finally ready to try a proper launch demo. The spaceflight outfit now expects the launch demo mission to take place on either May 24th or May 25th between 1PM and 5PM Eastern each day. If there’s enough of a launch window, the Cosmic… Source

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Virgin Orbit sets first orbital launch for May 24

Virgin Orbit has been preparing for this moment for years, but it’s now officially ready to launch its small satellite delivery vehicle to orbit for the first time. This key demonstration mission, taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port in California, will replicate the actual operational launch experience that…

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Watch Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launch a milestone Space Station resupply mission live

[embedded content] Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is launching a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIB rocket carrying the last of its H-II transfer vehicles. This cargo spaceship has enjoyed a long career of delivering supplies, payloads and experiments to the International Space Station, but MHI is working on a successor…

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NASA’s human spaceflight lead resigns days before Crew Dragon launch

NASA’s return to US-based crew launches will take place under less-than-ideal circumstances. The agency has revealed that its associate administrator for human exploration, Doug Loverro, has resigned as of May 18th — nine days before Crew Dragon’s fi… Source

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X-37B space plane launches on its most ambitious mission to date

A day later than planned, the X-37B space plane has gone back into low Earth orbit for its sixth mission. The vehicle launched aboard a United Launch Alliance rocket on the morning of May 17th. It’s the first X-37B mission under the Space Force’s ove… Source

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Watch live as ULA launches a U.S. military spaceplane for its first Space Force mission

[embedded content] The United Launch Alliance (ULA) is targeting a liftoff time of 9:14 AM EDT (6:14 AM PDT) today for an Atlas V rockets carrying the Boeing-built X-37B orbital test vehicle on behalf of the U.S. space force, which is an autonomous winged spaceplane that looks a little like…

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