Tag: Test Flight

Boeing to Launch First Crewed Test Flight Tonight

The Washington Post reports, “A decade after NASA awarded Boeing a contract to fly astronauts to the ISS, Boeing will finally attempt to fly its Starliner spacecraft with people onboard. If all goes to plan, at 10:34 p.m. on Monday, the company is set to fly a pair of veteran astronauts, Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore, on a mission that will be one of the most significant tests for Boeing’s space division — and for NASA — in years.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 Makes 4th Successful Test Flight

Simple Flying reports, “Boom Supersonic conducted a fourth and successful Boom XB-1test flight, this time reaching an altitude of 16,150 feet and a speed of Mach 0.617 (about 313 knots equivalent airspeed) during tests for flutter, g-forces, handling, and landing gear. The proof-of-concept XB-1 is helping educate Boom Supersonic on how to build and test supersonic aircraft in the lead-up to building Boom Overture.”
Full Story (Simple Flying)

SpaceX Preps for Upcoming Test Flight by Firing Up Engines on 6th Starship

SPACE reports, “SpaceX fired up the engines of its sixth Starship vehicle on Wednesday (Sept. 18) to gear up for a test flight that’s probably still several months away. The company performed a “static fire” on Wednesday (Sept. 18) at its Starbase site in South Texas, briefly igniting the six Raptor engines of Ship 31, the upper stage of the vehicle that will conduct the sixth Starship test flight.”
Full Story (SPACE)

 

SpaceX Eyes February for Third Starship Test Flight

Space News reports, “SpaceX expects to conduct the third integrated test flight of its Starship vehicle in February as it works to demonstrate key technologies needed to land humans on the moon.” On Tuesday, “Jessica Jensen, vice president of customer operations and integration at SpaceX, said securing an updated Federal Aviation Administration launch license was the key factor driving the schedule for that test flight.” She said, “From a hardware readiness perspective, we are targeting to be ready in January.”
Full Story (Space News)

Pipistrel Flight-Tests NUUVA V300 Hybrid-Electric VTOL

Aerotime reports, “Pipistrel, a division of Textron eAviation, announced that its new NUUVA V300 hybrid-electric unmanned VTOL aircraft successfully completed its first flight on January 31, 2025, in Gorizia, northeastern Italy, next to the Slovenian border. The NUUVA is an unmanned aerial system (UAS) designed to carry 300 kg of cargo (the equivalent of three euro-pallets) over distances of up to 300 km.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

 

 

 

Video

Nuuva V300 makes first successful flight-test
(Pipistrel Aircraft; YouTube)

Crewed Starliner Launch Scrubbed Due to Valve Issue

Space News reports, “Controllers scrubbed the first attempt to launch Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner on a crewed test flight May 6 because of a valve problem with the rocket, delaying the launch by at least four days. The launch director for the Atlas 5 rocket called for the scrub a little more than two hours before the scheduled 10:34 p.m. Eastern launch of the Crew Flight Test mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
Full Story (Space News)

SpaceX Preparing Rapid Turnaround for Next StarShip Launch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Space News reports, “SpaceX hopes to conduct the next launch of its Starship vehicle as soon as early May, a schedule that will depend on how quickly it can get an amended launch license.” According to the report, SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said March 19 at the Satellite 2024 conference that SpaceX is “still reviewing the data from the vehicle’s third integrated launch March 14 but expected to be ready to fly again soon.”
Full Story (Space News)

Cessna Citation Ascend Completes First Test Flight

Flying Magazine reports, “The second Cessna Citation Ascend test article has completed its first test flight, advancing development of the business jet program, according to Textron Aviation. The milestone flight for the aircraft—called P1—on Wednesday over Wichita, Kansas, follows that of the Ascend prototype, which completed its first flight in 2023, making the P1 aircraft the first conforming production flight test aircraft, Textron said.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

June 1 Set as New Target Date for Starliner’s Crew Flight Test

Spaceflight Now reports that the latest launch date was announced late Wednesday evening, following a Tuesday night notice that May 25 was off the table. Liftoff of the Atlas 5 rocket on June 1 is set for 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 UTC). A press briefing is now set for Friday, May 24, at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) to discuss the work done and the path forward to launch. “Williams and Wilmore continue to remain in quarantine in Houston, Texas, and have spent the additional weeks conducting further simulator training to prepare for the mission.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Cleared for June 1 Launch

SPACE reports, “The first-ever astronaut launch of Boeing’s Starliner capsule, known as Crew Flight Test, is ‘go’ for its planned June 1 launch, NASA announced today (May 29). CFT will send NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS) for a roughly week-long stay. The mission is set to launch atop a ULA Atlas V rocket on Saturday at 12:25 p.m. EDT (1625 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, on Florida’s Space Coast.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Starship Fueled Up Ahead of 4th Test Flight

SPACE reports, “SpaceX just fueled up its giant Starship rocket, checking another box ahead of the vehicle’s fourth test flight. The company performed a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ with Starship at its Starbase site in South Texas today (May 20), filling both of the vehicle’s stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid methane in a key prelaunch test.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Virgin Galactic’s Four-Member Test Flight Will Take Place This Month

Reuters reports that Virgin Galactic Holdings announced May 8 that its “four-member test flight will take place in May and that it aims to launch its first commercial flight in late June.” Last May, Virgin Galactic “delayed its commercial service to the first quarter of 2023 due to supply-chain crisis and labor shortage. After completing a lengthy upgrade for its centerpiece tourist spacecraft in February, Virgin Galactic re-opened ticket sales for spacecraft flights, setting the price at $450,000 per person with an initial deposit of $150,000.” Mike Moses, president of spaceline missions and safety, said, “Returning to space is what we have all worked towards.” According to Reuters, the “mission crew will consist of Jamila Gilbert, Christopher Hue, Luke Mays and Beth Moses.”
Full Story (Reuters)

SpaceX’s Next Starship Flight Expected to Include Propellant Transfer Demonstration for NASA

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CNBC reports, “SpaceX could attempt a key demonstration for NASA during the third test flight of its towering Starship rocket.” According to a NASA official, “the next Starship flight is expected to include ‘a propellant transfer demonstration,’ though an agency spokesperson noted Tuesday the plan is subject to change, as is often the case in the space industry.” NASA spokesperson Jimi Russell said in a statement, “NASA and SpaceX are reviewing options for the demonstration to take place during an integrated flight test of Starship and the Super Heavy rocket. However, no final decisions on timing have been made.”
Full Story (CNBC)

Starship’s Second Launch Spread Less Debris Than its First

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bloomberg reports that SpaceX’s second test flight “of its massive deep-space Starship rocket spread significantly less debris around the surrounding area than the vehicle’s first flight in April, though the crowds who flocked to the launch site had their own impact on the nearby terrain.” The US Fish and Wildlife Service “conducted an assessment of the Boca Chica, Texas, area after Starship’s launch, which took place from SpaceX’s Starbase launch facility in South Texas on Nov. 18.” The flight “achieved significantly more milestones than the first launch, including keeping the area much cleaner.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)