Commercial spacecraft launch test delayed
Washington (UPI) Oct 26, 2010 Private U.S. company SpaceX has pushed back the launch of its rocket and space cargo craft to Nov. 18, company officials said. The demonstration launch of SpaceX's medium-class Falcon 9 rocket with its cargo-carrying Dragon space capsule is almost two years behind schedule, SPACE.com reported Tuesday. "SpaceX is targeting Nov. 18 for our next launch with the 19th and 20th as backup dates," SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost said. The rocket and cargo capsule are being developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. Originally scheduled for September 2008, the initial demonstration launch was moved to June 2009, but hardware development has taken longer than planned. Earlier this year, SpaceX launched its first Falcon 9 rocket in a successful debut flight test that carried a dummy Dragon spacecraft that did not separate the booster's upper stage. SpaceX is one of two U.S. companies, along with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp., with a contract to provide cargo delivery to the International Space Station using unmanned commercial spacecraft, SPACE.com said.
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DLR Launches 'STERN' Rocket Programme For Students Bonn, Germany (SPX) Oct 08, 2010 On Tuesday, 5 October 2010, the German Aerospace Centre (Deutsche Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) launched a support programme for students to develop, build and launch their own rockets. The programme goes by the acronym STERN from the German Studentische Experimental-Raketen, or Student Experimental Rockets. The programme is aimed at all universities that offer courses in aerospace ... read more |
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