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Blue Origin launches its fourth crew to final frontier

Agence France-Presse
Posted at Apr 01 08:44 AM

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin successfully carried out its fourth crewed spaceflight Thursday, a ten-minute ride beyond the planet's atmosphere and back again. Read more »

Mom and daughter bound for space after winning Virgin Galactic prize

Lucie Aubourg, Agence France-Presse
Posted at Nov 25 08:34 AM

A health coach from Antigua and Barbuda has won two tickets worth almost $1 million to be among Virgin Galactic's first space tourists -- and plans to take the trip of a lifetime with her teenage daughter. Read more »

NASA orders rare medical delay in launch of SpaceX mission to space station

Joe Skipper and Steve Gorman, Reuters
Posted at Nov 02 09:01 AM

NASA announced on Monday a rare, health-related delay in its SpaceX rocket launch of four astronauts to the International Space Station, the second postponement of the mission in a week, citing an unspecified medical issue with one of the crew. Read more »

Blue Origin, Boeing chart course for 'business park' in space

Reuters
Posted at Oct 26 08:30 AM

Billionaire Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin on Monday unveiled plans to develop a commercial space station called "Orbital Reef" with Boeing, aiming to launch the spacecraft in the second half of this decade. Read more »

SpaceX 'go for launch' of first all-civilian crew bound for orbit

Julio-Cesar Chavez and Steve Gorman, Reuters
Posted at Sep 16 08:27 AM

"Everything is go for launch," SpaceX principal integration engineer John Insprucker declared about 3 1/2 hours before launch time in a SpaceX webcast of pre-liftoff activities. Read more »

Bezos offers NASA $2 billion in exchange for moon mission contract

Reuters
Posted at Jul 27 08:36 AM

Fresh off his trip to space, billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos on Monday offered to cover up to $2 billion in NASA costs if the U.S. space agency awards his company Blue Origin a contract to make a spacecraft designed to land astronauts back on the moon. Read more »

How can you become a space tourist?

Lucie Aubourg, Agence France-Presse
Posted at Jul 21 08:47 AM

Thrill-seekers will soon be able to get their adrenaline kicks -- and envy-inducing Instagram snaps -- from the final frontier, as space tourism finally lifts off.    Read more »

'Not really nervous': Billionaire Bezos girds for inaugural space flight

Eric M. Johnson, Reuters
Posted at Jul 20 09:19 AM

American billionaire businessman Jeff Bezos said on Monday he is excited and curious but not very nervous on the eve of taking part in his company Blue Origin's inaugural suborbital flight alongside the oldest and youngest people ever bound for space. Read more »

Space, the final frontier for billionaire Richard Branson

Callum Paton, Agence France-Presse
Posted at Jul 09 03:15 PM

As famous for his thrill-seeking lifestyle and publicity stunts as for his vast business empire, Richard Branson has set his sights on the stars as he prepares for liftoff on his first space flight. Read more »

Bezos, Branson and Musk: Who is winning the space tourism race?

Reuters
Updated as of Jul 07 08:39 AM

Three billionaire entrepreneurs - Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Richard Branson - are each vying to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel. Read more »

'Divine Vessel' to mark China's first human spaceflight since 2016

Ryan Woo and Liangping Gao, Reuters
Posted at Jun 14 08:34 AM

BEIJING - A Chinese spacecraft will blast off from the Gobi Desert on a Long March rocket in the coming days, ferrying three men to an orbiting space module for a three-month stay, the first time China has sent humans into space for nearly five years. Read more »

TikToker in space: Virgin Galactic to send up well-known researcher

Agence France-Presse
Posted at Jun 04 09:03 AM

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced Thursday it will send researcher Kellie Gerardi, a well-known figure on TikTok, into space to conduct experiments for several minutes while weightless. Read more »

Competitor fears Musk's SpaceX could 'monopolize' space

Agence France-Presse
Posted at May 28 08:34 AM

The launching of thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit by tech billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX threatens the "de-facto monopolization" of space, the head of competitor Arianespace Stephane Israel has warned. Read more »

SpaceX rocket explodes on ground after seemingly good flight

Agence France-Presse
Posted at Mar 04 08:30 AM

An unmanned SpaceX rocket exploded on the ground Wednesday after carrying out what had seemed to be a successful flight and landing. Read more »

Elon Musk-led SpaceX's job ad shows plan for Starlink factory in Texas

Reuters
Posted at Mar 03 08:39 AM

SpaceX is building a new factory in Texas for its satellite-based broadband service Starlink, according to a job posting from the company, as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk continues to invest in the southern US state.   Read more »

THE DAY IN PHOTOS: April 6, 2020

ABS-CBN News
Posted at Apr 07 12:53 AM

Here are the day's top stories in photos. Read more »

Soyuz MS-16 set for launch amid COVID-19 pandemic

Handout, Russian space agency Roscosmos via Reuters
Posted at Apr 06 04:43 PM

The Soyuz MS-16 spacecraft for the next International Space Station (ISS) crew, formed of Chris Cassidy of NASA, Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, is prepared on Monday amid new constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ahead of its upcoming launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. The mission is set to launch on April 9, 2020 at 04:05 EDT (08:05 UTC) from Site 31/6 at the cosmodrome and will mark the first time the Soyuz 2.1a rocket will be used to launch people.  Read more »