Latest Rocket Stories

NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., broke its own record Friday when it conducted a test on the new J-2X powerpack. The test lasted for 1,150 seconds, surpassing the previous record by more than a full minute. For NASA, the test marked a milestone step in development of a next-generation rocket engine to carry humans deeper into space than ever before. For Stennis, the 19-minute, 10-second test represented the longest duration firing ever conducted in the center's A Test...

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss., June 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., broke its own record Friday when it conducted a test on the new J-2X powerpack. The test lasted for 1,150 seconds, surpassing the previous record by more than a full minute. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) For NASA, the test marked a milestone step in development of a next-generation rocket engine to carry humans deeper into space than...

Lee Rannals for RedOrbit.com Space tourism just received one giant leg up by the U.S. government as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) granted Virgin Galactic an experimental launch permit for its SpaceShipTwo. Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo will be taking space tourists to suborbital trips above the Earth, and the permit granted by the FAA brings the company one step closer. “This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered...

Officials to Recognize 600,000th Student in the World-Renowned Program HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Space Camp® was training the next generation of explorers long before workforce development became a national topic. June 15, 2012, marks the 30th anniversary of this internationally-recognized program that today counts four astronauts, one cosmonaut, and nearly 600,000 other alumni, many in careers on the frontiers of technology. The U.S. Space...

MOJAVE, Calif., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR announced today that it has achieved a key technical milestone with its flight weight rocket piston pump hardware. XCOR engineers have successfully and repeatedly pumped liquid oxygen (LOX) at flow rates required to supply the Lynx suborbital vehicle main engines. Combined with earlier demonstrated kerosene pumps and fully characterized engines, XCOR is now poised for main propulsion integration into the Lynx flight weight...

As everyone gathered across the bay from the SpaceX Dragon capsule, a sense of excitement changed quickly to disappointment throughout the crowd as the highly anticipated launch was aborted with less than a second left (T-.5 seconds to be exact) before liftoff. SpaceX has been trying to blast its Dragon capsule aboard its Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center since April 30. The rocket was finally on the pad, and everything was "Go" for launch, until SpaceX team members put the...

MOJAVE, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR Aerospace today announced the grand prize winner of a trip aboard the Lynx Mark I suborbital launch vehicle. XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson made the announcement at the Spacecraft Technology Expo (STE) in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120516/LA08278) "About two months ago, we were at an event called the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference, where together with the Southwest...

THE PLAINS, Va., May 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from Madison West High School in Madison, Wis. placed first at the 10th annual Team America Rocketry Challenge finals Saturday, besting 99 teams from across the country to earn the title of national champion in a contest that puts kids on track for careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120512/DC06153 ) Madison West will travel to London courtesy of Raytheon...

MOJAVE, CA, May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR's innovative piston pump technology took a ride from Roswell, NM to Mojave, CA in April 2012. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120503/LA01039) "We debated how best to put many hours of wear time on the critical bearing components of our rocket propellant piston pump, that are subject to significant wear and tear," said Dan DeLong, XCOR Chief Engineer. "This particular motorcycle, the Triumph Street Triple, develops about...

The next-generation engine that will help carry humans deeper into space than ever is back, bigger and better. The J-2X engine is currently on the A-2 Test Stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an extensive round of tests to build on last year's successful test firings. The engine will provide upper-stage power for NASA's evolved Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket capable of missions to deep space. "We're making steady and tangible progress on our new...