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Private space program

Huge private plane planned to launch spaceships

Donna Blankinship, Seth Borenstein The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - 4:48pm

SEATTLE -- Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan are building the world's biggest plane to help launch cargo and astronauts into space, in the latest of several ventures fueled by technology tycoons clamoring to write America's next chapter in spaceflight.

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NASA OKs Feb. launch of private space station trip

Marcia Dunn The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, December 9, 2011 - 1:15pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A private space company will attempt the first-ever commercial cargo run to the International Space Station in February.

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British billionaire Sir Richard Branson stands along side the spacecraft White Knight Two after a test flight outside the new Spaceport America hangar Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 in Upham, NM. Branson dedicated the newly completed terminal Monday where his Virgin Galactic is slated to begin his commercial space tourism venture from the remote patch of desert in Sierra County. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Pentagon, NASA open space launch missions to private ventures

W.J. Hennigan Los Angeles Times

Last updated Monday, October 17, 2011 - 5:25pm

The U.S. government has taken the first steps toward allowing commercial space companies to launch its national security satellites into outer space.

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(REED SAXON/The Associated Press) This Oct. 4, 2004 file photo shows SpaceShipOne and X Prize team members posing with a U.S. flag carried aboard the spacecraft after its successful flight into space and landing at Mojave, Calif. The flight tests in 2004 were hailed by space enthusiasts as a stepping stone toward opening the final frontier to civilians.

Dream is over for Virgin Galactic space tourist

Alicia Chang The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - 8:03am

LOS ANGELES — Venture capitalist Alan Walton has trekked to the North Pole, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and skydived over Mount Everest. A hop into space to enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness would have been the ultimate adventure.

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Report warns: Space missions injure astronauts, need more in corps

Mark K. Matthews Orlando Sentinel

Last updated Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 9:19pm

WASHINGTON — Like a veteran NFL team, NASA’s aging astronauts are piling up injuries — raising concern that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its 61-member corps will have enough healthy astronauts available for rigorous six-month shifts aboard the International Space Station, according to a new report.

Business, Aerospace, ATK, Health, Injuries, International Space Station, Private space program, Space shuttle, Utah, NASA Read more Comments

(Courtesy ATK) ATK Space Systems is entering the commercial space launch business by blending its solid-rocket motors from the space shuttle (far left) with the European-built Ariane 5 (right) to create “Liberty” (center). The bottom stage of Liberty would be an Ares solid-rocket motor that ATK developed in Utah for NASA’s Constellation program, which has been eliminated from the federal budget.

ATK entering commercial space business with 'Liberty'

Charles F. Trentelman Standard-Examiner staff

Last updated Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 12:02am

BRIGHAM CITY -- ATK Space Systems officials said Tuesday that ATK is entering the commercial space launch business, mating its solid-rocket motors from the space shuttle with the European-built Ariane 5 to compete for NASA's next generation of manned spaceflight launch vehicles.

Business, ATK, Budget, Employment, Jobs, Private space program, Space, Space program, Space shuttle, Utah, Featured Read more Comments

(RED HUBER/The Associated Press)
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasts off Wednesday from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying a Dragon capsule, which is designed to deliver up to 13,000 pounds of cargo and seven astronauts to the International Space Station. Dragon reached orbit and circled the Earth twice before splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

Private rocket achieves liftoff, safe return

Robert Block, The Orlando Sentinel

Last updated Thursday, December 9, 2010 - 12:02am

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon capsule into orbit and brought it back to Earth on Wednesday, opening a new era in the commercial exploitation -- and exploration -- of space.

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First flight of SpaceX Dragon capsule delayed

Robert Block, The Orlando Sentinel

Last updated Monday, December 6, 2010 - 7:17pm

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The long-awaited first demonstration flight of a new commercial spacecraft -- the SpaceX Dragon capsule -- has been delayed to Wednesday at the earliest because of a crack in an upper-stage rocket engine nozzle.

SpaceX had planned to launch Dragon on top of its Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Tuesday morning. But during a Monday review of photos of the rocket, engineers found a three-inch-long crack in a weld joint of the nozzle in the rocket's second stage.

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Commerical rocket finishes first test flight

Los Angeles Times, W. J. Hennigan

Last updated Tuesday, October 12, 2010 - 3:56pm

LOS ANGELES -- Commercial space tourism got a boost when Virgin Galactic's rocket plane successfully completed its first manned test flight at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

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