outer space
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SpaceX Mounts Starship Booster on Launch Tower Ahead of Orbital Test Flight
SpaceX’s massive Super Heavy booster stage is now standing (very) tall on the company’s launch pad in south Texas, as it awaits a series of tests and final checks. The company is eager to launch the fully stacked Starship rocket for a flight test as early as July, but a number of regulatory hurdles still…
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NASA Hopes to Launch a Very Special Microwave-Sized Satellite on Monday
A tiny satellite is poised to set the stage for something far grander: a full-blown lunar space station. NASA’s CAPSTONE satellite is scheduled to launch on Monday and then travel to a unique lunar orbit in a pathfinder mission for the Artemis program, which is seeking to return humans to the Moon later this decade.
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Florida Tower for Launching SpaceX Starship Rockets Takes Shape
Earlier today, a giant crane added the second segment to SpaceX’s upcoming Starship launch tower at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The new launch pad tower will eventually reach 121.92 m in height and potentially host two dozen Starship launches each year.
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Test to Manoeuvre ISS with Cygnus Spacecraft Didn’t Go as Planned
NASA is currently evaluating the ability of docked Cygnus spacecraft to serve as boosters for the International Space Station, but a recent test of the concept was quickly stopped, for reasons that aren’t yet clear.