Tag: spacecraft
Watch how SpaceX’s first human spacecraft performed during its key in-flight escape test
[embedded content] SpaceX is getting ready to launch its first-ever spacecraft with humans on board, the Commercial Crew Demo-2 mission (DM-2) that will take off from Florida on May 27. There are still a couple of things remaining to finish up prior to flight, including a final parachute system test…
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Blue Origin and SpaceX win contracts to develop NASA’s Moon spacecraft
As it teased earlier in the week, NASA has awarded contracts in its quest for a Moon landing — and it’s a big win for the upstarts in the spaceflight industry. The administration has chosen Blue Origin, SpaceX and IT firm Dynetics to compete against… Source
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NASA will test a new spacecraft solar sail using a NanoAvionics satellite
NASA is going to test a new solar sail system to determine if it’s a viable alternative to propellant-based thrusters for maneuvering small satellites, and potentially for low-cost transportation of spacecraft set on deep-space missions. The agency has selected Illinois-based NanoAvionics to provide the spacecraft that will be used to…
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Elon Musk provides more details about SpaceX’s plan to reduce Starlink satellite visibility
During a virtual conference briefing this week, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk provided more details about a new plan that his company has to mitigate the impact of their Starlink satellite constellation on night sky observation. Musk first revealed the intent to build a “sun visor” to lower their…
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SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype passes a key test that puts it on track for a first flight
SpaceX has been developing its next-generation Starship rocket for some time now, but the large-scale prototypes it’s building in Boca Chica, Texas, have thus far always encountered a fatal error during an important part of testing called “cryo” – or filling the fuel tank to full pressure in conditions that…
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Elon Musk says Starlink internet private beta to begin in roughly three months, public beta in six
SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk has shared more details about when in 2020 we can expect the company’s Starlink low-latency, high-bandwidth satellite internet service to actually be available to customers. He said on Twitter that a private beta for Starlink would begin in around three months, with a public…
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