The Verge - SpaceX: countdown to the era of commercial space flight

SpaceX signs three-year deal with Spaceport America to test Grasshopper reusable rocket

2013-05-08T07:49:13Z

SpaceX has secured a three-year lease to make use of New Mexico's Spaceport America. The commercial spaceflight startup plans to use the port's land and facilities to conduct more advanced tests of its Grasshopper reusable rocket, which is intended to land intact on a launch pad upon its return from space.

NASA delays astronaut flights with SpaceX and other companies, extends Russia contract

2013-04-30T17:26:06Z

NASA has not had the ability to send astronauts to the International Space Station since the space shuttle fleet was retired in 2011, and that's not going to change anytime soon. A plan to replace the shuttle by paying for rides on commercial spacecraft from SpaceX, Boeing or several other private companies has been delayed from its original 2015 anticipated start date due to budget cuts, NASA announced today. Instead, NASA has extended a contract with the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos), paying another $424 million to allow US astronauts to fly aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft through 2016, and to return them or provide rescue services through 2017. That comes out to about $70 million per seat, while SpaceX estimates it will be able to...

SpaceX's prototype rocket Grasshopper hovers at 820 feet in highest flight yet

2013-04-23T16:45:02Z

Last night SpaceX released a video of the latest successful test flight of its Grasshopper prototype rocket, a spacecraft designed to launch and land vertically. We've already seen the Grasshopper hit some impressive marks, flying over 260 feet high in March before landing precisely back on the launch pad at SpaceX's test facility in McGregor, Texas. But this latest test flight, Grasshopper's fifth, continues SpaceX's goal of launching the rocket to ever-increasing heights — this time up to 820 feet. Even more impressively, the rocket managed to hover in place at that height, holding "against wind," before returning squarely to the launch pad, as SpaceX founder Elon Musk tweeted.

SpaceX's reusable rocket prototype Grasshopper leaps to new record height, nails landing

2013-03-11T14:31:44Z

SpaceX just overcame a glitch to connect its Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station last week, but the company's work on its next generation of rockets is going a bit smoother. On Saturday, SpaceX launched its reusable test rocket Grasshopper from McGregor, Texas, on its highest and most accurate test flight yet, landing in the center of launch pad for the first time. Later that day, SpaceX founder Elon Musk showed off footage of the 262.8-foot-high launch during his keynote at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, saying "If we’re going to be a multiplanet species, we must have reusable rockets." He also tweeted about the test flight, calling it the "Johnny Cash hover slam."

Thirty Seconds to Mars' new single had a seat aboard the SpaceX Dragon launch yesterday

2013-03-03T04:59:04Z

Forget about late-night talk show appearances — what better way is there to get publicity for a new album than sending it into space? Appropriately, American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars is doing just that with its first single, "Up in the Air" from its upcoming fourth studio album. Yesterday morning a copy of the single was included onboard the Dragon capsule launched by SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket as part of 12 NASA-contracted flights to resupply the International Space Station.

"Up in the Air" on its way to ISS

Brothers Jared and Shannon Leto, as well as Tomo Milicevic, of Thirty Seconds to Mars, were lucky enough to get front row seats to the launch at Cape Canaveral (pictured above), where they happened to run into some...

NASA says SpaceX Dragon is safe to dock with the International Space Station on Sunday

2013-03-02T20:28:01Z

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft was delayed after experiencing a glitch on Friday, casting doubt on its chances for docking with the International Space Station in the near future, but NASA has just announced that the Dragon is clear to deliver its payload. The Dragon began experiencing trouble after it reached orbit and disconnected from its Falcon 9 rocket; SpaceX noticed problematic pressure readings that prevented the company from activating all of the spacecraft's thruster pods that are required to approach the space station. But NASA says that the ISS Mission Management Team "unanimously agreed" that the Dragon's propulsion and other systems are now ready, and it is now scheduled to link up with the ISS on Sunday at 6:01 AM ET.

The...

SpaceX overcomes Dragon glitch, but docking delayed until Sunday

2013-03-01T22:42:06Z

SpaceX's Dragon is still on track to link up with the space station despite suffering a glitch after launch on Friday morning. But the glitch has delayed the window for docking from Saturday until Sunday at the earliest, possibly even longer. "We'd keep it [Dragon] up there for a month at least trying to sort out any issues," SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said during a press conference this afternoon.

SpaceX Dragon launched into orbit, but suffers problem (updated)

2013-03-01T14:07:08Z

SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station at 10:10 AM ET this morning, but the Dragon suffered a problem as it reached orbit, with three of four total thrusters not responding. SpaceX was able to overcome the problem and deploy Dragon's solar arrays at 11:49 AM ET. The craft is still on track to reach the space station, but docking has been delayed until Sunday at the earliest. The mission is SpaceX's third flight to the space station, following the historic first docking in May 2012 and another run in October. Once again, the Dragon is ferrying supplies to station astronauts and new science experiments for them to conduct. All of the missions have been part of a $1.6 billion...