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SpaceX has made history. Its privately developed rocket has made it into space. After three failed launches, the company founded by Elon Musk worked all of the bugs out of their Falcon 1 launch vehicles. The entire spectacle was broadcast live from Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific. Cameras mounted on the spacecraft showed our planet shrinking in the distance and the empty first stage engine falling back to Earth. As the rocket ascended, cheers rang out during every crucial step of the launch sequence, and at the final stage their headquarters in Hawthorne, California erupted in excitement. The tensest...

The Falcon 1 booster redeemed itself Sunday with an electrifying launch that put an exclamation point on six years of hard work and disappointment for SpaceX, the startup company chartered to revolutionize space travel. The 70-foot-tall rocket successfully delivered a 364-pound hunk of aluminum to orbit on the launcher's fourth flight, ending a streak of three consecutive Falcon 1 failures dating back to 2006. "That was freakin' awesome," said Elon Musk, CEO and chief technical officer of Space Technologies Corp. Musk established SpaceX in 2002 and funded the company from the fortune he earned from starting Zip2 and PayPal. "We...

Excerpt - EAST CAMDEN, Ark. (AP) - A rocket motor at the Aerojet plant in south Arkansas exploded and caught fire today, and one worker was missing. Company spokesman Glenn Mahone says workers were involved in routine work at the 1,200-acre company compound when a large motor caught fire. He said the company was investigating, but did not know what caused the explosion. ~ snip ~

In another frustrating foul-up on the path towards converting Soviet-era military missiles into cash-paying satellite launchers, a military-industrial team in Moscow has announced the 'indefinite suspension' of plans to launch an earth resources survey satellite for Thailand. The reasons: at the last moment, for the second time, overflight permission has been revoked by a country downrange of the launch site. First Uzbekistan, and now Kazakhstan, denied permission for dropping the booster's spent first stage onto their territories. "We never thought we'd see a repeat of the Uzbekistan case," lamented Thongchai Charuppat, director of Thailand's "GeoInformatics and Space Technology Development Agency...

Iran plans to send a manned rocket into space in the next 10 years, state television reported on Thursday, just days after the Islamic Republic announced it had put a dummy satellite into orbit. Embroiled in a standoff with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran said on Sunday it had put a dummy satellite into orbit on a home-grown rocket for the first time. U.S. security officials said Tehran's attempted satellite launch was a failure that fell short of claimed successes, but an analyst said the test marked a technical advance for Iran. The long-range ballistic technology used to...

NASA announced on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 that it has worked out a solution to the excessive-vibration problem in its yet-to-be developed Ares 1 launch vehicle. The Ares 1 rocket will take astronauts into space inside their Orion crew capsule as part of the new Project Constellation for the United States. The first manned flight is due around 2015. However, early in the design phase of the Ares 1, NASA engineers found that combustion in the solid-fuel motor would spread excessive vibration throughout the multi-stage Ares 1 rocket and the Orion crew capsule. Although the larger-than-desired vibrations would only appear...

IRAN said it had sent a rocket carrying a dummy satellite into space today, triggering fresh concern in Washington that the technology could be diverted to ballistic missiles. The launch is likely to further exacerbate tensions with the West over its nuclear drive, which Iran's arch-foe Washington and its allies claim is a cover for atomic weapons ambitions. "The Safir (Ambassador) rocket was successfully launched. All its systems ... are Iranian-made," Reza Taghipour, head of Iran's space agency, told state television, adding that a "test satellite was put into orbit". "We have paved the way for placing a satellite in...

Launch going off at Kwajalein today 7pm EST. Live feed starts 1/2 hour before. The rocket has a new Spacedev satellite on it, built for the Air Force.

A crude rocket has been fired by an Israeli student at a Palestinian village in the West Bank, Israeli security officials have said. No-one was injured by the rocket, which was fired from a Jewish theological seminary in Yitzhar settlement. The incident is being investigated by the Shin Bet security agency. No arrests have so far been made. The use of home-made rockets is more usually associated with Palestinian groups firing into Israel from Gaza. The incident is reported to have happened about two weeks ago but details have only just emerged. The rocket landed in the area between the...

The BBC reports that Hamas has admitted that a massive explosion in the Gaza Strip on Thursday was caused by Jihadists preparing a terror operation against Israelis. Seven Palestinians, including a four-month-old baby were killed in the blast. "Members of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades were trying to prepare for a Jihadoperation," Hamas said in a statement. The statement said six of those killed were Hamas jihadis, and the four-month-old baby of one of the jihadi's child. I guess it was take your baby to work day. Now this is the type of "martyrdom" operation we need more of. It is...

Dozens of people were wounded on Wednesday evening, including a baby girl, when a rocket fired from Gaza hit the Hutzot Shopping Center in Ashkelon. The rocket hit the top floor of the building. Several people were reportedly trapped in the rubble. The attack came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush concluded their meeting in Jerusalem.

There’s a strange wave phenomenon that’s plagued rocket scientists for years, a lurking threat with the power to destroy an engine at almost any time. For decades, scientists have had a limited understanding of how or why it happens because they could not replicate or investigate the problem under controlled laboratory conditions. Scientists generally believe that these powerful and unstable sound waves, created by energy supplied by the combustion process, were the cause of rocket failures in several U.S. and Russian rockets. Scientists have also observed these mysterious oscillations in other propulsion and power-generating systems such as missiles and gas...

Singapore: Singapore Says It Will Investigate Alleged North Korea Rocket Exports To Myanmar News 2008-04-04 10:33 SINGAPORE: The Singapore government said Thursday (3 Apr) it will look into allegations that a Singapore company was involved in the exports of rocket launchers by North Korea to Myanmar, following a media report. Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported Wednesday (2 Apr) that North Korea started full-scale exports of rocket launchers to Myanmar through a trading company based in Singapore. The report, however, did not identify the Singapore-based company, or give any other details. Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry said it took such allegations seriously...

A judge agreed Monday to postpone for 13 months the trial of a Chinese-American engineer charged with stealing military and aerospace trade secrets on behalf of China. Kenneth Miller, the attorney for 72-year-old Dongfan "Greg" Chung, asked for the delay because he is involved in a lengthy trial, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples. The trial was scheduled for April 8, but U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney agreed to delay it until May 5, 2009. The government alleges that Chung stole trade secrets on the space shuttle, C-17 military transport and the Delta IV rocket during his decades of employment...

A California aerospace company plans to enter the space tourism industry with a two-seat rocket ship capable of suborbital flights to altitudes more than 37 miles above the Earth. The Lynx, about the size of a small private plane, is expected to begin flying in 2010, according to developer Xcor Aerospace, which planned to release details of the design at a news conference Wednesday. The company also said that, pending the outcome of negotiations, the Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded it a research contract to develop and test features of the Lynx. No details were released. Xcor's announcement comes...

(IsraelNN.com) A total of 24 people are hospitalized, mostly for shock, following the firing of more than 30 rockets and mortar shells from Gaza on Israel on Thursday. Among them are two with shrapnel injuries. Among the rockets and mortar shells fired from Gaza on Israel on Thursday, eight long-range Grad rockets hit the coastal city of Ashkelon. The city's 100,000-plus rocket-besieged residents were told just last night (Wednesday) by Defense Minister Ehud Barak that there was no need to change the city's deployment plans. The Katyusha-like were fired in several waves in the mid-afternoon hours. Two rockets slammed directly...

China hopes to launch its second moon-orbiting satellite in 2009, state media reported Friday, as the country steps up its space programme. The news came after scientists regained contact with the country's first lunar satellite Chang'e-1 following a four-hour blackout, Xinhua news agency said. Ye Peijian, the chief commander of Chang'e-1, did not elaborate on his announcement of the follow-up mission. Change'e-1 is currently making a three-dimensional survey of the moon, and collecting data on the make-up of its surface, the report added. The control centre lost contact with the satellite for four hours on Thursday, as it moved into...

NAIROBI, Kenya As combat raged in Chad's capital last weekend, U.S. Embassy staffers were busily shredding sensitive documents in the ambassador's office when a rocket blasted through a wall, roared across the room and burst out the opposite wall before exploding. No one was injured in the blast, or when two stray artillery shells hit two residences inside the embassy compound, the evacuated public affairs officer, Solomon Atayi, says in an email letter written Thursday to colleagues and friends. The Associated Press obtained a copy Friday, and Atayi also posted it on the State Department's blog site. U.S. officials had...

Iran on Monday fired a rocket into space to mark the opening of its first space centre, triggering swift condemnation from the United States amid continued tensions over the Iranian nuclear drive. The space centre, located in the remote desert of western Iran, will be used to launch Iran's first home-produced satellite "Omid" (Hope) in May or June this year, officials said. "We witness today that Iran has taken its first step in space very firmly, precisely and with awareness," declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he gave the order for the rocket's launch. "The evil and dominant system's most important...

Renovated Moon Rocket Unveiled in Ala. Published: 1/31/08, 8:05 AM EDT By JAY REEVES HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) - The renovated Saturn V rocket gleams like new, ready for its dedication. One would never know raccoons, birds and opossums were living in the 363-foot-long steel structure until recently. Once used for test firings at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the rocket spent 35 years laying on its side outside the neighboring U.S. Space & Rocket Center, which includes hundreds of artifacts from the earliest days of the U.S. space program. The Saturn V was split into sections for display, but there...

NASA is wrestling with a potentially dangerous problem in a spacecraft, this time in a moon rocket that hasn't even been built yet. Engineers are concerned that the new rocket meant to replace the space shuttle and send astronauts on their way to the moon could shake violently during the first few minutes of flight, possibly destroying the entire vehicle. "They know it's a real problem," said Carnegie Mellon University engineering professor Paul Fischbeck, who has consulted on risk issues with NASA in the past. "This thing is going to shake apart the whole structure, and they've got to solve...

Experts are wrestling with a propulsion system problem in the design of the new moon ship that would create dangerously high vibrations for the spacecraft and its astronauts, NASA said today. In a statement, the space agency said it expects to develop several options to address the problem with the Ares I rocket by March. NASA is counting on the Ares I rocket and the Orion capsule that will house astronauts to replace the aging space shuttle fleet. The shuttle is facing retirement in 2010. At current funding levels, NASA hopes to begin launching astronauts to the international space station...

Gusting winds swept away Artorius One after its successful second stage separation. "We had a perfect, uninterrupted launch sequence, ignition was nominal as were the separation and chute deployment," said *****, an Artorius Aerospace engineer. "But we didnt count on wind gusts at altitude to be that high." The separation was viewed visually as was chute deployment. Thats when a wind gust at about 400 ft took the parachuting re-entry vehicle far to the northwest of the Artorius Space Flight Center near [REDACTED]. At this time its wherabouts are unknown.

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq — At the insistence of Sgt. Michael Oatis, Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Mark Zerger got up at 5:30 a.m. one October day and went jogging. “I don’t like to jog early in the morning,” the 11th Signal Brigade chaplain said. Later would have been better, but Zerger agreed to his chaplain assistant’s plea to go running earlier than normal. As they were jogging they heard the siren warning of an impending attack. Looking up they saw a rocket go overhead and then heard a loud boom. The rocket had hit something. “I wondered what was hit,” the chaplain...

The massive Delta 4-Heavy rocket is poised for its first operational launch Saturday evening from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff is targeted for 8:39 p.m. EST. The vehicle will deploy the final Defense Support Program missile warning satellite into geosynchronous orbit.

China launches moon orbiter with patriotic blast By Royston Chan Wed Oct 24, 8:14 AM ET XICHANG, China (Reuters) - China launched its first moon orbiter on Wednesday amid a blaze of live-to-air patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's space ambitions and technological prowess. ADVERTISEMENT The Chang'e One orbiter lifted off from the southwestern province of Sichuan at 1005 GMT. Barring technical failure, it will reach its lunar orbit on November 5 and spend more than a year scanning the lunar surface in preparation for an unmanned moon vehicle planned for 2012 and a manned landing in future decades. Chinese television...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Oct. 16, 2007— Four suspected criminals, including one who allegedly was among the extremists responsible for a recent rocket attack on Victory Base Camp, Iraq, were captured in an early morning raid in Baghdad, Iraq. “We have reason to believe that … we now have detained all of the leadership and the key operatives of the indirect fire cell that attacked Victory Base last week.” Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks “We have reason to believe that, through two intelligence-driven operations over the last few days, we now have detained all of the leadership and the key...

Sergei Khrushchev is used to having a seat on the front row of history. Not only because his father, Nikita, was a premier of the Soviet Union, but also because he worked as an engineer at the forefront of Russia's space programme. As a young man, he was at his father's side on many of his official visits around the Soviet Union and abroad, including the historic visit to the US in 1959. On 4 October 1957, Sergei was in Kiev, Ukraine, where his father was visiting on military business. What started out as a routine engagement for the...

Secrets of 1957 Sputnik launch revealed By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago   MOSCOW - When Sputnik took off 50 years ago, the world gazed at the heavens in awe and apprehension, watching what seemed like the unveiling of a sustained Soviet effort to conquer space and score a stunning Cold War triumph. But 50 years later, it emerges that the momentous launch was far from being part of a well-planned strategy to demonstrate communist superiority over the West. Instead, the first artificial satellite in space was a spur-of-the-moment gamble driven by the dream of one...

Russia's Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov said Friday that a prominent Russian businessman-turned-politician is training to fly to space as a tourist in 2009 and underscored the need to cut his country's dependency on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for manned space exploration. "If we create a new manned spaceship, which our program until the year 2015 provides for, then we will need a new rocket and that rocket will require a new launch pad," Perminov told reporters in a press conference here. We have not decided whether to build that pad at Baikonur or in Russia." While Perminov...

Rocket attacks on Basra airbase increase By Thomas Harding, Defence Correspondent Last Updated: 2:41am BST 20/08/2007 Rocket attacks on British troops sheltering at the airbase in Basra have "ramped up considerably" with more than 450 raining down in the last three months, officers said. The 4,000 service personnel and thousands of civilian employees are becoming increasingly anxious at the upsurge in attacks. Riflemen from the Royal Green Jackets in Basrah One officer said that in tented accommodation all people can do is put on their body armour and helmets and "pray" they are not hit. In the last three months...

Rocketeers By Michael Belfiore Smithsonian, 305 pages, $26.95 American space exploration had a rough time of it on Thursday. NASA's already bruised reputation took a one-two punch with revelations that on at least two occasions astronauts were allowed to fly even though they were intoxicated and that a computer due to be delivered to the International Space Station in August had been sabotaged. The news might have bolstered the case for the increasingly robust efforts at privately funded space ventures, except Thursday also brought news of a deadly explosion at a Mojave Desert airport where a propellant system for a...

Excerpt - BAKERSFIELD - A series of explosions ripped through the Mojave Airport shortly before 3 p.m. First reports indicated there were a large fire, two deaths, and several other serious injuries. The explosion apparently happened on the edge of the grounds of the huge airport, where many experimental airplanes, jets, and even rocket planes are tested. One spokesman said a rocket exploded. Emergency equipment is being rushed to the area from throughout the county. Helicopter ambulances are being sent from Bakersfield. ~ snip ~

AN experimental jet engine travelling at up to 10 times the speed of sound reached an altitude of 530km in a 12-minute test flight in the Australian outback today. Scientists hope the engine will ultimately propel the next generation of supersonic planes, with predictions a flight between Sydney and London could take just two hours. The scramjet engine spent 12 minutes and 15 seconds in the air today after being launched from the Woomera rocket range in South Australia's north. It reached speeds of Mach 10 - about 11,000km/h - during re-entry to the earth's atmosphere. The scramjet is an...

Two top secret National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) ocean surveillance spacecraft were fired into the wrong orbit June 15 when the 200-foot-tall Atlas V rocket they were riding on stopped firing too early in space following launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The top secret satellites separated safely from the malfunctioning booster, however, and have enough rocket propellant to continue their mission, an official said on background. The U.S. Air Force, which managed the Atlas V launch, and the NRO have begun an official investigation into the launch and malfunction. The $83 million Atlas V used in the launch is a model...

HAMILTON — You never know what you'll find on a spring cleaning sweep, but sheriff's deputies were surprised to find something "explosive" May 5 while participating in the Hamilton citywide cleanup. A used military rocket launcher, specifically a M72 light anti-tank weapon, covered by brush and leaning against a telephone pole, was spotted by a Butler County Jail inmate in the 500 block of South Third Street, Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said. "It's pretty bizarre and scary to find something like this in your neighborhood," Jones said, noting the sheriff's office and inmates were responsible for collecting trash in...

Excerpt - A 36-year-old man was killed Sunday when a Qassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a car in the western Negev town of Sderot. The man was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon for treatment, where he succumbed to his wounds. Two Qassam rockets hit Israel earlier Sunday, one landing in Sderot causing property damage and the other near a kibbutz in the western Negev. Neither rocket caused casualties. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks. The rocket attacks followed Israel Air Force air strikes against Hamas security positions in the northern and southern Gaza Strip late...

Missile research spacecraft soars into orbit from VirginiaBY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOWMinotaur launches with NFIRE. Credit: NASAA data-gathering research satellite for the U.S. missile defense program successfully launched into space from the Virginia coast aboard an Orbital Sciences Minotaur 1 rocket early this morning. The Missile Defense Agency's Near Field Infrared Experiment, or NFIRE, spacecraft lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island at 2:48 a.m. EDT (0648 GMT).... The Minotaur's first minutes of flight were powered by two left-over motor stages from decommissioned Minuteman 2 intercontinental ballistic missiles. They propelled the rocket on the way to space...

Bail denied over rocket launcher theftApril 11, 2007 An army captain allegedly behind a racket to sell rocket launchers to criminals had disguised the weapons so they could not be traced to the military, a Sydney court was told today. Captain Shane Malcolm Della-Vedova, 46, a munitions expert with 27 years of military experience, allegedly stole 10 M72 rocket launchers from military stocks between July 2002 and February 2003. In new details of the alleged scam released in Central Local Court today, the decorated officer was accused of pocketing about $60,000 from selling the single-use weapons to members of Sydney's...

This is the second attempt to loft the rocket Privateer Elon Musk has launched his budget rocket, Falcon-1, from Omelek Island in the South Pacific. The 21m-long vehicle lifted off at 1810 California time (0110 GMT) and rose to an altitude of 200 miles (320km). Mr Musk, who co-founded the internet financial system PayPal, wants to lower the cost of access to space. The flight did not achieve all its goals, but the businessman said it demonstrated the vision of his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation. The mission was the second attempt to loft the rocket; the first ended when...

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 – American and Afghan forces captured five suspected terrorists yesterday during a joint operation in Khowst province, and an enemy rocket missed a coalition base during an attack in Kapisa province the same day, U.S. officials reported. Afghan and coalition forces arrested five suspected terrorists, two of whom attempted to flee to a neighboring building, during a joint operation west of Khowst city yesterday evening. The suspects were arrested following a thorough search of the buildings, which also yielded a supply of grenades and armor-piercing rounds. U.S. and Afghan authorities had been tipped off about...

Iranian rocket test has 'little military significance' 13:45 26 February 2007 NewScientist.com news service Will Knight and Reuters Iran has launched a rocket capable of reaching the edge of space, according to a state television report on Sunday. "Iran successfully launched its first space missile made by Iranian scientists," the head of Iran's aerospace research centre, Mohsen Bahrami, was quoted as saying. Bahrami said the rocket was built by his centre with the cooperation of the Defence and Science Ministries, but gave no further details. According to other reports, the missile could rise to an altitude of 150 kilometres but...

Iran has successfully fired its first rocket into space, Iranian state television has announced. It gave few details about the rocket or its range, but said that it had carried cargo intended for research. Iran already has a civilian satellite programme but has relied on Russia to put its satellites into orbit. The launch - if confirmed - comes at a time of mounting tension between Tehran and the West over Iran's controversial nuclear programme. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are due to meet on Monday to discuss the possibility of more sanctions over...

Iran tests “successfully” its space rocket TEHERAN - Iran tested successfully its first space rocket, brought back Sunday the television of State, without giving details on its range and its power. “The first space rocket was sent successfully in space”, affirmed the television of State. “This rocket is carrying the materials of research manufactured by the ministries for Defense and of Science”, declared Mr. Mohsen Bahra

The Ultimate Glide: PlanetSpace's Suborbital Travel Plan Tariq Malik Staff Writer SPACE.com Wed Feb 14, 11:30 AM ET Even as the private spaceflight firm PlanetSpace, Inc. aims for orbital space shots, the Chicago-based company is also drawing up plans for a suborbital Earth transit system. The firm's planned Silver Dart space plane, currently targeted at providing NASA crew and cargo services to the International Space Station (ISS), could be equipped with a suborbital rocket engine for point-to-point flights around Earth, PlanetSpace CEO Geoff Sheerin told SPACE.com [image]. "This is the killer application for space industry," Sheerin said. "You've got a...

Five NASA probes aimed at unraveling mysteries surrounding Earth's colorful auroras are set to launch Friday evening after a 24-hour weather delay. A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket carrying the five probes that make up the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms (THEMIS) mission is scheduled to liftoff between 6:05 and 6:23 p.m. EST on Feb. 16 from Pad 17-B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The launch will set a new NASA record for the most number of scientific satellites ever launched into orbit aboard a single rocket. "We're complete through all of our...

FEDERAL police say a rocket launcher seized as part of an investigation into a Sydney man with alleged links to a terrorist cell was "active" and could have been fired. Taha Abdul Rahman was arrested at a house in Leumeah, in Sydney's south-west, in January and charged with a string of offences over seven stolen M72 rocket launchers. One of those M72s was obtained by a police "source" last year and handed over as part of a controlled operation. Police, the defence department and ASIO are continuing to hunt for another six of the weapons still not accounted for. The...

China puts new navigation satellite into orbit (Xinhua)Updated: 2007-02-03 14:04 The carrier rocket Long March 3-A blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, Feb. 3, 2007. [Xinhua]  

New Delhi: It has not been a week since India successfully launched PSLV-C7, now the nation has made new footsteps in the sky by bringing the Space capsule Recovery Experiment (SRE-1) back to earth. The capsule was successfully recovered on 22 January after being maneuvered to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere and descend over Bay of Bengal, about 140 km East of Sriharikota. The SRE-1 was launched by Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C7) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota on 10 January 2007. Since its launch, SRE-1 was going round the earth in a circular polar orbit at an...

Many Greeks will have reacted with satisfaction to the dawn rocket attack on the US embassy in Athens. There is an undercurrent of anti-Americanism in Greece, which began after the Great Powers carved up Europe at Yalta towards the end of World War II. It has been perpetuated every generation since, by some aspect of US foreign policy. Police said a rocket was fired at the US eagle emblem Revolutionary Struggle, the left-wing guerrilla group which claims to have fired the Russian-made rocket, is continuing the tradition of its predecessor November 17, of attacking targets which have - in...