August 2018
America’s ‘dream machine’
...different way of doing business which helps protect government finances. Artist’s rendering of Dream Chaser atop a ULA Atlas V rocket on Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Astronautics It’s also different because we actually...
August 2018
Measuring the pulse of Mars
... at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The mobile service tower at SLC-3 is rolled back to reveal the ULA Atlas-V rocket that launched NASA’s InSight spacecraft on 4 May 2018 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Core...
October 2018
Sustainable ways of living on the Moon and Mars
... and rocket propellant from the Earth is unrealistic. Currently a launch to low Earth orbit (LEO) via the Atlas V booster costs US$20,000/kg while SpaceX promises a reduction to US$1,700/kg with its partly reusable Falcon Heavy rocket...
April 2019
Space launch industry analysis
... from its flight failure, the commercial crew missions for NASA that were to be launched by Falcon 9 and Atlas V in 2018 were delayed for various technical and mission assurance reasons and will not now take...
May 2019
Cold comfort for astronauts
... human space programme started with two Air Force-contributed large intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) rockets, Atlas and Titan – used on the Mercury and Gemini missions. The astronauts were military fighter pilots. With...
January 2020
Commercialising space exploration and development
... specialist Maxar, we showed – to everyone’s surprise - that not only could you re-purpose the spent fuel tank of an Atlas 5 in orbit, but that you can do it without astronauts. In fact, we have funding for a multi-year effort to work...
