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A US flag flutters in the breeze. In the background, a rocket launchpad

What private companies could mean for NASA space exploration

Science & Technology

It’s been nearly a decade since an astronaut was launched into space from American soil. Wednesday, at Cape Canaveral Florida, the company SpaceX and NASA tried to end that streak on board the Falcon 9 until weather scrapped the launch. The World’s Marco Werman speaks with Margaret Weitekamp, head of the space history department at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, about the future of US space flight. 

Two NASA astronauts in spacesuits in front of a rocket launch pad

NASA, SpaceX to launch rocket; EU, Japan plan huge stimulus efforts; Twitter marks Trump tweets with fact-check label

Top of The World
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ISS Expedition 22 crew members take a moment for photographs following a fit check of their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft at the launch site’s integration facility in December 2009.

As the private space industry emerges, what’s next for the International Space Station?

Technology
At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ISS Expedition 22 crew members take a moment for photographs following a fit check of their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft at the launch site’s integration facility in December 2009.

With private space competition on full boil, the ISS looks to find its place in next chapter of space habitation

Technology
An image of the Martian landscape taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover

How close are we to sending humans to Mars?

Technology
Israel's Space Agency

Israel Space Agency fears launchpad explosion could jeopardize China deal

Business

The destruction of an advanced Israeli communications satellite may have dealt a blow to the country’s aerospace industry.

Hyperloop passenger transport capsule conceptual design sketch. Credit: Elon Musk

Once thought of as just a dream — is the hyperloop a real possibility?

Technology

Startup company Hyperloop One just test-drove a technology that may someday make it possible to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in only 30 minutes.

SpaceX rocket launch marks the beginning of the private era in space

Environment

Tuesday’s launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket marks the first commercial flight for a spacecraft bound to the International Space Station, perhaps the opening salvo of a new, private era of space exploration.

Is the Private Era in Space Officially Upon Us?

The United States, Russia, Japan, the European Union, and SpaceX: what do they all have in common?  If all goes smoothly over the next few days, each entity will have successfully, and at some point historically  brought a vessel to the International Space Station. Yesterday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon capsule lifted off en […]

Behind the Scenes at Orbital’s Launch Facility

SpaceX and Orbital will be the first private companies to fly missions to the International Space Station. The two companies have multi-billion dollar contracts to supply cargo to the station after the NASA shuttle program shut down.  BBC’s science reporter Neil Bowdler was granted exclusive access to Orbital’s launch facilities in Virginia.

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