NASA Suspends Payments on Launch Contract with Orbital, Space News “Dulles, Va.-based Orbital remains under contract to build OCO-2, a duplicate of the $200 million carbon-mapping satellite destroyed in a 2009 Taurus XL launch failure blamed on payload-fairing separation error. However, the $68.1 million NASA had budgeted for a February 2013 Taurus XL launch of OCO-2 has been “temporarily put on hold” as the agency evaluates “launch services options for […]

NASA’s Glory Satellite Fails To Reach Orbit “NASA’s Glory mission launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California Friday at 5:09:45 a.m. EST failed to reach orbit. Telemetry indicated the fairing, the protective shell atop the Taurus XL rocket, did not separate as expected about three minutes after launch.” Education Satellites Hitch Ride on Glory Mission “P-PODs are aluminum containers measuring about 5 inches square by about 16 inches long. […]