Retrospective: The coolest orbital image of 2011

In case you missed it, nearly a year ago on July 21, 2011, the space shuttle Atlantis was imaged as it began its fiery descent toward Earth. As the final flight of the shuttle fleet, this was truly the last opportunity to grab this sort of image, and somehow the International Space Station Expedition 28 […]

Views of a last space shuttle launch

As NASA nears the final launch and retirement of its mainstay Space Shuttle, I think it only fitting to review another final Space Shuttle launch – one made twenty-three years ago. In 1988, the U.S.S.R. launched its own Space Shuttle, the Buran, for what would be the first and last time. Replay camera videos of […]

Remembering VentureStar

With the recent developments in new commercial suborbital spaceplanes, (e.g., XCor’s Lynx, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, Sierra Nevada/SpaceDev’s DreamChaser,) my mind is often turned back toward the premier commercial spaceplane of the late-1990s, which inspired many in my generation toward a career in space science in the first place: the venerable VentureStar. With the VentureStar came […]

Boeing enters commercial spaceflight, guns blazing

In a move that must have struck simultaneous chords of fear and joy in the hearts of future commercial and tourist spaceflight providers, aerospace titan Boeing recently announced the intent to partner with Space Adventures to sell private seats on its newest orbital spacecraft, the CST-100. (This passes up Virgin Galactic’s and Armadillo Aerospace’s suborbital spacecraft, […]

Columbia shuttle disaster board supports commercial spaceflight

A short note today on welcome news. While it isn’t necessarily new news at this point, it’s something that didn’t get a lot of play when it came out, and in my view it really should have. So, what is it? It’s a sigh of relief for everyone rooting for the success of commercial spaceflight: […]

Orbital Tugs shove their way into reality

With the imminent retirement of the Space Shuttle and the rise of corporate launch spacecraft, private companies are starting to think seriously about the next logical steps – orbital infrastructure. A few of them have even zeroed in on the next target in the business case by identifying a capability we don’t have: Orbital Tugs. […]

Military rescues ’90s NASA mini-shuttle

The U.S. Air Force’s evening launch of a new unmanned reusable spacecraft yesterday has been getting a lot of ominous press coverage. However, far from hearing military drums or worrying about the weaponization of space, a full-fledged fanfare is going off in my mind with even a tugged heartstring or two. Why? Context. This vehicle […]