Refine Your Search

Topic

Author

Affiliation

Search Results

Article

JAXA MINERVA-II1 rovers achieve asteroid landing, autonomy, image and data capture

2018-09-24
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials have released the first images from two unmanned rovers that landed safely on the surface of asteroid Ryugu just days ago. The compact MINERVA-II1 rovers, Rover-1A and Rover-1B, separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on Sept. 21 at 13:06 Japan Standard Time (JST) and landed on Ryugu with a bounce.
Article

Northrop Grumman completes first live motor cast for OmegA rocket

2018-09-06
Northrop Grumman has successfully completed casting, or filling with solid propellant, the first live motor segment for its new OmegA rocket. The segment, developed as a part of the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems’ Common Boost Segment (CBS) program, is specifically designed to support the needs of the OmegA intermediate- to heavy-lift rocket, soon to be the largest and most capable in the company’s line-up.
Article

Delta II’s final flight a success

2018-09-17
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket carrying NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Sept. 15 at 6:02 a.m. PDT., marking the 155th launch and the final mission of the Delta II rocket, which first launched on Feb. 14, 1989.
Article

T-X competition to end in September with selection of new USAF trainer aircraft

2018-08-30
According to officials, the USAF will select a new trainer aircraft by September 30 – before the end of the 2018 fiscal year. The aircraft will be one of the three remaining next-gen trainer candidates from the USAF’s ongoing T-X competition, either the Boeing/Saab T-X, Lockheed Martin/KAI T-50A, or Leonardo DRS T-100.
Article

New Horizons spacecraft to reach Ultima Thule

2018-12-27
Three years after completing its Pluto flyby, New Horizons will explore a mysterious object named Ultima Thule, meaning “beyond the known world.” The reddish piece of rock and ice is thought to be a castoff of an older version of our solar system, untouched for billions of years.
Article

The UK’s first digital air traffic control tower

2018-12-21
With air travel growth already causing strains across the sector and UK passenger numbers expected to increase by 49% by 2050, Cranfield Airport is using a new digital air traffic control center developed by Saab Digital Air Traffic Solutions to manage the pace.
Article

Astronaut garbage is a serious operational concern when travelling to the Moon and Mars

2018-12-18
Waste, trash, refuse – regardless of preferred nomenclature – the approach to managing it has stood for centuries: collect it and then send it somewhere else to be stored or incinerated. The same holds for waste produced by astronauts in space. But for those who may spend extended time on the Moon or Mars, this approach might not be the best idea.
Article

Late Paul Allen’s Stratolaunch company cancels launch vehicle projects

2019-01-21
Months after founder Paul G. Allen’s death, Seattle-based Stratolaunch Systems Corporation will abandon several launch vehicle projects. The news comes days after a brief social media update on the massive Stratolaunch composite aircraft’s latest high-speed taxi test at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California.
Article

Safran and MTU Aero Engines will co-develop the engine for the sixth-generation FCAS fighter

2019-02-11
Paris-based Safran SA and Munich-based MTU Aero Engines AG will partner to develop, produce, and support a new turbofan engine for “New Generation Fighter” (NGF) aircraft being developed by Airbus SE and Dassault Aviation SA. The NGF is a manned, sixth-generation fighter and a component of the future Franco-German Future Combat Air System (FCAS) architecture.
Article

SpaceX tests Raptor engine, prepares for Starship “hop”

2019-02-07
Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has test fired its Raptor rocket engine at its Rocket Development and Test Facility, in McGregor, Texas. The Raptor is designed to power the Super Heavy first stage and Starship second stage launch vehicles.
Article

Orbex debuts innovative smallsat launch vehicle

2019-02-20
Orbex, a developer of small satellite (smallsat) launch vehicles based in Forres, Scotland, has unveiled its “Prime” launch vehicle. The rocket utilizes several novel technologies, including the world’s largest metal rocket engine produced as a single piece through additive manufacturing (AM).
Article

Stratolaunch composite air-launch aircraft pulls the wheels up during latest taxi test

2019-01-17
Seattle-based Stratolaunch Systems Corporation is fast approaching the first flight of its Stratolaunch aircraft. According to a brief social media post, the aircraft – the largest in the world in terms of wingspan – reached a speed of 136 miles per hour during a high-speed taxi test at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California.
X