Aviation Week reports that on May 25, United Launch Alliance announced that it has “canceled the planned…static hot fire of its first Vulcan-Centaur rocket to review an issue with the booster engine ignition system.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: May 25
Starliner Returns to White Sands Missile Range
The Washington Post reports that the Boeing Company’s Starliner capsule undocked from the International Space Station Wednesday and successfully returned to Earth, completing a six-day mission. The uncrewed capsule “touched down as scheduled at 6:49 p.m. Eastern time at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico under a trio of parachutes.” Starliner’s return marked the final step of a vital test for Boeing and NASA, “which required the aerospace company to prove it could safely fly the vehicle to the station and back autonomously before allowing it to fly astronauts.”
Full Story (Washington Post)
Video
Starliner’s Orbital Flight Test-2 Landing (Boeing via YouTube)
SpaceX Launches Transporter-5 Mission from Cape Canaveral
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched its Transporter-5 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 40 at 2:35 p.m. EDT Wednesday. The Transporter-5 mission was carried out by a Falcon 9 rocket carrying around 59 satellite payloads. SpaceX’s launch “came just one minute before Boeing undocked its high-profile Starliner capsule mission from the International Space Station.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Video
Launch of the Transporter-5 Mission (SpaceX via YouTube)