Next launch to the Space Station by Orbital ATK

Antares being prepped for launch

Orbital ATK is currently targeting a launch date no earlier than October 9th-13th for the launch of the Cygnus spacecraft. Cygnus will launch atop Orbital ATK's Antares 230 rocket and will be the first time it has flown since the failure on October 28th, 2014. This will also be the first Enhanced Cygnus to fly into orbit and to the Space Station. They will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia. A final specific date of the launch will be announced once the final operation milestones and technical reviews are finished. Media credentialing has been opened and the deadline for US Citizens is September 30th. Members of the media should send their accreditation request to keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov.

Falcon 9 could launch from SpaceX's other launchpads

Jason-3 set to launch at the VAFB in California
on  January 17th, 2016

SpaceX is still looking into what caused the Falcon 9 to explode on September 1st before the static fire, but have hopes to return to flight in November. SpaceX has leased NASA's old Space Shuttle launch complex 39A to turn into a new launch pad that can launch the Falcon Heavy as well as Falcon 9 rockets. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president, said that they hope to launch Falcon 9 missions from LC-39A. SpaceX also has a launch site in California at the Vandenberg Air Force Base to help support missions. 

NASA's OSIRIS-REx launches toward the asteroid Bennu

NASA's OSIRIS-REx launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 8th at 7:05pm EDT. It launched atop an Atlas V rocket with one strap-on solid rocket booster in the 411 configuration. The probe's purpose is to go to the asteroid Bennu and collect a surface sample. The spacecraft has many scientific instruments to learn about the asteroid and monitor it. It has specially designed solar arrays that can gimbal toward the sun and are extended pointed away from the asteroid. OSIRIS-Rex is also one of the few

spacecraft's to have many small thrusters on its body to help with orientation and translation. The surface sample will be taken by an arm on the spacecraft that extends outward. It's a telescoping arm so the surface sampler can touch the surface for about the 3 seconds it needs for the correct amount of it. It releases nitrogen gas to push the regolith or light surface rock, into the sample canisters. It'll put the canister into the sample return capsule and go on its return trip back to Earth, where the capsule will parachute back into Utah and the spacecraft will burn up in the atmosphere. It is planned to return in September of 2023. 

NASA's Historic Spacecraft to launch this evening

Photo from the Kennedy Space Center
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Tonight at 7:05pm EDT, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on an Atlas V. The Atlas V is in its 411 configuration with a 4m fairing, 1 solid rocket booster, and 1 centaur upper stage engine. The weather has improved to a 90% chance of favourable weather. More than 8,000 viewers are at KCS to view the launch of this historic mission to the Asteroid Bennu. View the live broadcast of the launch here on NASA TV. 

Falcon 9 explodes during static fire fueling

On September 1st around 9:07am EDT a Falcon 9 rocket with AMOS-6 was fueling for the planned hold down firing of its nine Merlin engines when an anomaly occurred causing the loss of the rocket and the payload that costed around $200 million. A few days before launch, SpaceX raises the launch vehicle vertical and begins fueling it and go through a regular launch sequence. Then, they ignite all nine Merlin engines to ensure that everything is functioning correctly and usually lasts a few seconds. During the fueling process, an explosion occurred around the area where the strongback umbilical connects to the second stage. This caused the tanks to rupture under pressure and

the liquid contents of the second stage ignited and poured down onto the first stage. The structural integrity of the first stage weakened and the tanks ruptured, which caused the second large explosion. The cause of the initial ignition is still unknown, but the SpaceX team is working hard to find the cause so they can return to flight as soon as possible. The explosion of the rocket caused damage to the launch pad and major damage to the strongback. This event is not like what happened during CRS-7 last year when a broken strut caused an overpressurization event in the second stage resulting in the loss of the vehicle and payload. With this also being an issue with the second stage, this creates a larger setback for SpaceX's launch manifest. SES also stated that what happened doesn't change their plans on launching with a recovered booster. SES-10 was set to launch sometime in October, but with damage to the pad and strongback it may be

pushed back. All photos used are credited to US Launch report who also captured this intense video of the explosion. Updates to this anomaly can be found at SpaceX's website here. 

SES confirms flight with SpaceX's landed booster

CRS-8 Booster on the Droneship

SES, an international communications satellite operator in Luxembourg have officially announced that the same booster that

Launch of CRS-8

flew CRS-8 and was the first one to land on the droneship will boost SES-10 into orbit. They say launch date will be around October from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This will be the first ever flight of one of SpaceX's reused boosters. The launch of SES-10 will help show the reliability of the boosters and will help other customers to feel safer with using reused boosters for their payloads. CRS-8 launched on April 8th, 2016 carrying the Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station and landing back on the droneship in the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. The SES-10 satellite is a

SES-9 on top of a Falcon 9

heavy satellite and needs a lot of velocity to carry it into the desired orbit. This means that the booster will have to land on thedroneship for the second time. SES-10's planned orbit is a Geostationary orbit nearly 22,300 miles above the Earth's surface.

SpaceX recovered booster on display

Credit: Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

SpaceX recently raised one of their flown boosters, from ORBCOMM-2, on permanent display in front of their HQ in Hawthorne, California. This stage launched 11 satellites into orbit and returned back to the land site at a landing pad using precision landing and trajectory algorithms. While going through multiple engine

relights and shutdowns and undergoing intense reentry speeds through the Earth's atmosphere, the booster landed back at Cape Canaveral, Florida at Landing Complex 1. When a first stage booster lands, it's covered in soot and gives it a cool look shown on the image to the left. This soot is formed on the body from flying through its own exhaust while doing reentry and landing burns. After washing up the booster, it was transported back to SpaceX's HQ in Hawthorne and waited to be lifted onto display. People watched as cranes lifted the booster into an upright position and attached the legs soon after.

NASA's OSIRIS-Rex viewed before encapsulation

NASA's OSIRIS-Rex was viewed by the media for the last time before encapsulation yesterday on August 20th. Members of the media entered the cleanroom where the Spacecraft sat on display with the Atlas V 4 meter fairing sitting nearby. The launch is set for September 8th aboard an Atlas V in its 411 configuration with one strap-on Solid Rocket Booster. During the media event, principal investigator Dante Laurette who has been working on the project for 12 years, helped to fill us in with the mission guidelines and goals. "Once the OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft gets to Bennu, we'll basically be flying in formation with the asteroid.". The spacecraft will use the combination of four reaction wheels for orientation and sixteen small thrusters across it to keep its science instruments pointed at the asteroid. There are also star trackers on the spacecraft to help guide it through space using the stars. This is also the first spacecraft to launch with the sixteen low-thrust engines. Another feature of OSIRIS-Rex is the solar panels are on gimbals and have sensors to track the sun and keep the panels pointed at it. "We'll go from flybys into orbit and in orbit we and do characterization from points of interest," said Dante while explaining the timeline of the mission at the asteroid. For this mission, the required sample from the asteroid is 60g (2oz) of material. The spacecraft will do several low-altitude flybys of the asteroid until it's point of interest is chosen and is set to retrieve a sample. The arm on the spacecraft will extend and grab the required sample in 5 seconds of contact,

then put it in a detachable capsule that has a heat shield on it. The spacecraft will then leave the asteroid and mark its way back to Earth. Once to Earth it will decouple the capsule and have it spun up, "Like throwing a football," Dante explained. It will hit the atmosphere at 27,000mph and will gradually decrease as it descends. This reentry will have the fastest reentry speeds by NASA. The capsule will slow down to subsonic speeds and deploy the drogue, then the main parachutes for a landing at the Utah Test Training Range on September 24th, 2023.

NASA takes another step on their Journey To Mars

RS-25 engine test
Credit: NASA

Around 6 o'clock on August 18th, NASA tested another RS-25 rocket engine that will be a part of the Space Launch System's first stage. People gathered to watch the 420-second test fire of the RS-25 engine. These rockets are upgraded versions of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) so they can perform to the higher temperatures and stresses needed to propel the rocket into Space on it's way to Mars. The Space Launch System, or SLS, will be powered by four of the RS-25 rockets as well as two strap-on Solid Rocket Boosters that are manufactured by Orbital ATK. These boosters have been test fired in Utah as QM-1 and QM-2. NASA is aiming to launch SLS to the Moon with the Orion Spacecraft on top to gather data of the performance of the rocket and the Spacecraft during flight. 

Delta IV brings Twin Satellites to GTO

Last night at 12:52am EDT, the Delta IV Medium+ (4,2) rocket roared to life as it ignited it's RS-68 engine and 2 solid rocket boosters and flew off the pad. The rocket produced 1.1 Million pounds of thrust to push itself and 2 twin satellites into space. The twin satellites are for surveillance purposes launched into a Geosynchronous Orbit around the Earth. This orbit is so the satellites stay above the same part of Earth as it orbits. After fairing separation the live broadcast ended as requested by the customer. Seven hours later, a press release confirmed the two satellites made it successfully into their proper orbits leading to another successful launch by ULA. 

JCSAT-16 landed first stage arrives in Port Canaveral

JCSAT-16 first stage returning from Sea
Credit Mary Ellen Jelen / We Report Space

Closeup of slight damage from Reentry
Credit Mary Ellen Jelen / We Report Space

After SpaceX's perfect landing on the droneship Sunday morning, it rolls back into Port Canaveral. The first stage landed upright on Of Course I Still Love You after launching JCSAT-16 into it's Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO). People watched as the 14-story tall rocket came over the horizon toward shore after a 3-day journey. Falcon 9 first stage arrived into Port Canaveral, Florida Wednesday around Noon. The droneship docked at Port Canaveral and a crane attached to the booster and lifted it off onto shore on a stand. Recovery teams will then begin work on removing the legs and positioning the booster horizontal onto a trailer to ship off to the hanger in KSC at Launch Complex 39A.