Elon Musk’s SpaceX is using a powerful rocket technology. NASA advisers say it could put lives at risk, Washington Post “… But in a 2015 letter to NASA, Thomas Stafford, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and then chairman of the agency’s space-station advisory committee, wrote that “there is a unanimous, and strong, feeling by the committee that scheduling the crew to be on board the Dragon spacecraft prior to […]

If you think NASA is frustrated with SpaceX, you’re probably right, Ars Technica “A more blunt assessment was offered by Mary Lynne Dittmar, who is familiar with the thinking of NASA’s human spaceflight program managers. “I find it extraordinary that these sorts of announcements are being made when SpaceX has yet to get crew from the ground to low-Earth orbit,” she told The New York Times. Dittmar serves as executive […]

SLS hugger @DittmarML from Coalition for Deep Space Exploration makes jokes at expense of @SpaceX @XploreDeepSpace https://t.co/1tnW72YtbS — NASA Watch (@NASAWatch) September 2, 2016 Hydrazine and smoke are a bad combination. Not a time for sightseeing. #CCAFS #SpaceXexplosion https://t.co/Zq7OmchiBW — Mary Lynne Dittmar (@DittmarML) September 1, 2016

SES-10 Launching to Orbit on SpaceX’s Flight-Proven Falcon 9 Rocket “SES and SpaceX announced today they have reached an agreement to launch SES-10 on a flight-proven Falcon 9 orbital rocket booster. The satellite, which will be in a geostationary orbit and expand SES’s capabilities across Latin America, is scheduled for launch in Q4 2016. SES-10 will be the first-ever satellite to launch on a SpaceX flight-proven rocket booster.”

SpaceX Falcon 9 Mishap: More Details Emerge, SpaceRef “According to SpaceX telemetry received from the Dragon spacecraft showed that it too was functioning after the mishap occurred and telemetry continued to be sent back from Dragon for a significant period of time. SpaceX now confirms that the U.S. Air Force Range Safety Officer did initiate a destruct command but that this command was sent 70 seconds after the mishap occurred, […]

Falcon 9 Launches Supplies to the Space Station “The mission is the company’s sixth cargo delivery flight to the station through NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.” SpaceX Successfully Launches Cargo Resupply Mission to the ISS but Fails to Recover Falcon 1st Stage, SpaceRef “SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station today to deliver over 1950kg of supplies. The attempt to land […]

ULA Unveils Next Generation Launch System with a Little Showmanship [With Video], SpaceRef Business “At a news conference at the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, United Launch Alliance (ULA) CEO Tory Bruno unveiled their Next Generation Launch System (NGLS) with a crowdsourced new name, Vulcan. Showing some of the showmanship that Elon Musk of SpaceX has been known for, Bruno tried to follow in Musk’s footsteps ratcheting up the […]

Coverage Set for NASA/SpaceX Launch and Mission to Space Station “Following the completion of NASA’s flight readiness review, the second SpaceX demonstration launch for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program is scheduled for Monday, April 30. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule will liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There is a single instantaneous launch opportunity at 12:22 […]

Air Force sets up competition for rocket launches, Washington Post “It’s obvious that the current prices we’re paying are just too high,” Richard McKinney, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs, said in an inter- view last month at the Pentagon. … The Air Force says it’s willing to take more risk with the lower-cost missions, giving newcomers the opportunity “to gain experience operating with government pay- loads,” […]

NASA OIG: Review of NASA’s Acquisition of Commercial Launch Services “We found that NASA’s LSP acquired ELVs from 2008 through 2009 that were within costs and timeframes established by the NLS contracts. However, we also found that NASA’s published strategy for acquiring medium-class launch vehicles after 2010 may not be the most cost-effective or advantageous to the Government because it did not include as a possible option use of Minotaur, […]