live for liftoff –
“The problem with the MK1 stuff was that I did not have my eye fully on the ball.”
Eric Berger – Mar 6, : PM UTC
The easiest way to keep up with Eric Berger’s space reporting is to sign up for his newsletter, we’ll collect his stories in your inbox. NASA eyeing human suborbital flights . With NASA now allowing researchers to fly with experiments on commercial suborbital spacecraft, the agency is beginning a certification process that would allow its astronauts to also fly on such vehicles. This effort is apparently being driven by the agency’s administrator, Jim Bridenstine,
the company said . Soon This test at an airport in Spain allowed the company to validate the nominal engine performance during the full mission-duration burn of two minutes, the necessary time to boost the MIURA 1 launch vehicle into space. In a news release, the company co-founder said PLD will make a launch attempt “soon,” although that word definitely has different meanings across the aerospace industry. (submitted by Ken the Bin) Stratolaunch to continue its comeback . Stratolaunch plans to resume test flights of its giant aircraft in September as the company continues its shift from a launch-services company to a provider of high-speed flight test services, SpaceNews reports . The Stratolaunch plane has flown just once, in April , in a test flight from Mojave Air and Space Port in California that 2.5 hours. Despite the name of the company … “We are working to get certified by the FAA, so beginning in September, we’ll fly at least once a month,” Mark Bitterman, vice president for government relations and business development at Stratolaunch, said. Those tests would last for about eight months in order to get the plane certified. Stratolaunch no longer refers to itself as a launch company but is focused on supporting high-speed flight testing, such as hypersonics work. (submitted by Ken the Bin)
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