Tag Archives: SpaceX

MNA Science & Technology Desk: Elon Musk’s SpaceX is gearing up to destroy one of its own rockets on Saturday to test a crucial emergency abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, the company’s final milestone test before flying NASA astronauts from US soil. Less than two minutes after liftoff from a launchpad in Florida, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule will fire on-board thrusters to eject itself off a Falcon 9 rocket mid-air, simulating an emergency abort scenario that will prove it can return astronauts to safety. “I will tell you tomorrow will be an exciting day,” Kathy Lueders, NASA’s commercial ...

MNA Science & Technology Desk: The demonstration of a new US system to get astronauts into orbit is under way. The SpaceX company has launched a capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida designed to carry people. The mission is uncrewed for this flight, but if it goes well the American space agency is likely to approve the system for regular astronaut use from later this year. Not since the retirement of the shuttles in 2011 has the US been able to put humans in orbit. It’s had to pay to use Russian Soyuz vehicles instead. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 ...

MNA Science & Tech Desk: The first flight of a SpaceX rocket tailored to fly astronauts to the International Space Station is set for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on7 January, NASA said. The launch test is a crucial milestone in the space agency’s Commercial Crew Program, which aims to launch humans to space from US soil for the first time in nearly a decade. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration said SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – which will shuttle three astronauts to space from the same launch pad that sent Apollo 11’s three-man crew to the ...

MNA Tech Desk: In a step that commercialises space travel, US private space firm SpaceX announced that it will send the first private passenger to Moon and will reveal his identity on Monday. The tourist will fly in the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) being designed to carry people into deep space, the Elon Musk led company said in a tweet. “SpaceX has signed the world’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon aboard our BFR launch vehicle-an important step toward enabling access for everyday people who dream of travelling to space. “Find out who’s flying and why on Monday, ...

MNA Science & Tech Desk: Tech magnate Elon Musk’s SpaceX vowed Monday to send its first astronauts into orbit on schedule next year—part of a drive to restore America’s dominance of the space race, reported news agency. Gwynne Shotwell, the aerospace manufacturer’s president, told journalists in Los Angeles an unmanned flight to the International Space Station in November would pave the way for a manned mission in April 2019. NASA awarded contracts to SpaceX and Boeing in 2014 as part of its commercial crew programme, aimed at helping private industry build spaceships to reach low-Earth orbit. On 3 August the ...

MNA Science & Tech Desk: After several rounds of delays, the launch of the Bangabandhu satellite has been set for May 10, says Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission chief Shahjahan Mahmood. The satellite will be launched at 4:00pm (US time) on the day, he said. A 30-member delegation from country led by State Minister for Information Tarana Halim will leave country for Florida on Monday to attend the launching programme, he said. Though the test results of Bangladesh’s first satellite was expected to be in hand by Saturday evening, the SpaceX authorities are yet to provide its results. The launching of ...