NASA plans to send the Orion unmanned spacecraft and 13 CubeSats to deep space onboard the Boeing-built Space Launch System in 2018. “The 13 CubeSats that will fly to deep space as secondary payloads aboard SLS on [Exploration Mission-1] showcase the intersection of science and technology, and advance our journey to Mars,” Dava Newman, NASA’s […] More

NASA has finished a critical design review of a heavy-lift rocket designed to carry the Orion crew capsule to deep space destinations such as Mars. The assessment was for Space Launch System Block 1 configuration and marked the first time that NASA has completed a rocket CDR since it launched the Saturn V mission almost four […] More

A team of NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers has fused two sections of an Orion crew module that the agency intends to send into a lunar distant retrograde orbit with the Boeing-built Space Launch System. The spacecraft’s tunnel and forward bulkhead were welded together on Saturday at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the […] More

Orbital ATK will produce the launch abort motor for the Orion spaceflight capsule’s launch abort system under a $98 million subcontract from Lockheed Martin. The company will design, develop and test the launch abort motor at three facilities in Utah, Orbital ATK said Tuesday. “The benefit of using a solid launch abort motor is being able to […] More

Orbital ATK has completed the ground test for NASA’s rocket booster as part of efforts to qualify the system for missions to thrust the agency’s Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft into space. During the test conducted at Orbital ATK’s Promontory, Utah-based facility, the rocket booster fired for the same span of time required […] More

NASA has completed an initial, 500-second hot-fire test on the RS-25 engine for Boeing‘s Space Launch System at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in preparation for the rocket’s future missions to deep space. The space agency said Friday its engineers checked the inlet pressure conditions and engine controller unit and will continue with further tests in April. “We’ve made modifications […] More

NASA demonstrated a 170-foot welding platform for the Space Launch System at a ceremony held Friday at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Vertical Assembly Center is designed to weld large cryogenic tanks that would power the rocket’s four-engine core stage, which is being constructed by Boeing, NASA said Friday. “This rocket […] More

NASA is poised to test an engine for the Space Launch System, a rocket the agency and Boeing are building to send the Orion manned spacecraft into deep space. Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi positioned the RS-25 rocket engine on a testing platform Thursday for developmental and certification flight tests, the agency […] More

ATK has demonstrated a booster avionics system the company built to centralize twin solid rockets for NASA’s Space Launch System. The technology has been integrated into hardware and software systems and was subjected to ground test systems and stress evaluations at ATK’s Clearfield, Utah-based lab, ATK said Thursday. “Stressing the system beyond what it will see […] More

Neil Albert serves as vice chairman of MCR‘s board of directors where he oversees strategic growth, business development, community outreach and a number of other company functions. The 26-year company veteran is the former president and CEO and has served in many leadership roles at the McLean,Va.- based firm including VP and director. Albert caught […] More

A subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies will build a launch vehicle stage adapter for NASA to use on the agency’s Space Launch System under a five-year, $60 million contract. Teledyne Brown Engineering unit will use the Marshall Space Flight Center’s advanced welding facility to assemble the adapter, which is intended to protect and support SLS’ core and […] More

Boeing will mentor metallic structure maker AMRO Fabricating Corp. under a three-year agreement as part of a mentor-protege program run by NASA. AMRO produces aluminum alloy panels for Boeing’s Space Launch System and will help with marketing and business development, management development and supply chain management work for the SLS, Boeing said Friday. AMRO is a […] More