COMPLETE COVERAGE of the Race to Space: More video, stories, photosRELATED STORY: Shatner is oldest person ever to go to space: ‘The most profound experience’ UPDATE: VAN HORN, Texas — The New Shepard rocket launched at approximately 8:50 a.m., carrying “Star Trek” hero William Shatner and his crewmates to the edge of space in a
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Ninety-year-old William Shatner, who gained fame portraying Captain Kirk on the original “Star Trek,” just hitched a ride aboard a suborbital spacecraft that grazed the edge of outer space before parachuting to a landing, making Shatner the oldest person ever to travel to space. “That was unlike anything they described,”
Continue ReadingCNN, CNN BUSINESS By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Ninety-year-old William Shatner, who gained fame portraying Captain Kirk on the original “Star Trek,” just hitched a ride aboard a suborbital spacecraft that grazed the edge of outer space before parachuting to a landing, making Shatner the oldest person ever to travel to space. “That was unlike
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By CODY JACKSON and ANDREW DALTON Associated Press VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — As William Shatner prepares to be beamed up at age 90 for his first real-life spaceflight, he’s bringing out the awe in people around a rural Texas spaceport. The mayor of Van Horn, the nearest town to the port where Shatner on
Continue ReadingVAN HORN, Texas — Actor William Shatner’s first-ever flight into the final frontier will have to wait. The “Star Trek” star’s anticipated trip aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin Rocket is being delayed. In a statement on its website, Blue Origin said the vehicle and astronauts are ready to go. It’s the weather that’s causing an issue
Continue Reading By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Captain Kirk is rocketing into space: “Star Trek” actor William Shatner plans to blast off from West Texas next week. Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, announced Monday that Shatner will join the Oct. 12 flight with three others. It will be the
Continue ReadingSPACEPORT AMERICA, New Mexico — Virgin Galactic said Wednesday that the Federal Aviation Administration has cleared it to resume launches after an investigation into why its spaceship veered off course while descending during a July flight with founder Richard Branson aboard. The company said it was advised by the FAA that corrective actions proposed by
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN Business As Jared Isaacman and his three fellow crewmates were freeflying through Earth’s orbit, shielded from the unforgiving vacuum of space by nothing but a 13-foot-wide carbon-fiber capsule, an alarm started blaring. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft’s systems were warning the crew of a “significant” issue, Isaacman said. They’d spent months
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Four people, all of whom just six months ago had no formal spaceflight training, strapped themselves into a SpaceX capsule atop a 200-foot-tall rocket and took a three-day spin around Earth. After splashing down off the coast of Florida on Saturday, the passengers emerged from their capsule, smiling and waving,
Continue ReadingBy MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A trailblazing tourist trip to orbit has ended safely with a splashdown in the Atlantic. A SpaceX capsule carrying four people parachuted into the ocean just before sunset Saturday, right off the Florida coast where their chartered flight began three days ago. The all-amateur
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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — SpaceX’s first private flight streaked into orbit Wednesday evening with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism. It was the first time a spacecraft circled Earth with an all-amateur crew and no professional astronauts. “Punch it, SpaceX!” the flight’s
Continue ReadingCNN’s Kristin Fisher spoke to Dmitry Rogozin in his first interview with western media since becoming the head of Roscomos, Russia’s space agency. She joins New Day to share his thoughts on the billionaire space race, which company he thinks is best, and Roscosmos’ relationship with NASA.
Continue ReadingEL PASO, Texas — UTEP, UT Austin and the U.S. Space Force on Thursday began a partnership that officials say will help the U.S. maintain its predominance in aerospace technology, research, development and security. At UTEP’s campus, President Heather Wilson and Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson signed a Memorandum of
Continue ReadingVAN HORN, Texas — The rocket that flew Jeff Bezos to space last month just took another brief, suborbital jaunt to the upper reaches of the atmosphere, this time without people on board, as the company continues to test the vehicle and prepare to offer rides to other ultra-wealthy thrill seekers. It marked the 17th
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the two wealthiest people on this planet, both want to be center stage when NASA returns astronauts to the moon. But NASA only has enough money for one of them, and it went with Musk’s SpaceX. That means Bezos’ Blue Origin is mad. Both of
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By Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Blue Origin filed a federal lawsuit Friday to challenge a NASA moon landing contract awarded solely to rival company SpaceX, upping the ante in an already tense standoff over the multibillion-dollar lunar lander program. The protective order was first publicly posted Monday. Details of the lawsuit are not publicly available
Continue ReadingLAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) _ Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (SPCE) on Thursday reported a loss of $94 million in its second quarter. On a per-share basis, the Las Cruces, New Mexico-based company said it had a loss of 39 cents. The results did not meet Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN Business Virgin Galactic says it’s re-opening ticket sales for the first time in years, giving anyone who can afford it the chance to reserve a seat on the company’s rocket-powered suborbital space plane for $450,000, a significant markup over what tickets were previously sold for. The news comes after Virgin Galactic
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN When NASA returns humans to the moon, SpaceX will build the vehicle to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface. The US Government Accountability Office denied protests that were filed by Blue Origin and Dynetics on Friday. The protests were filed by the companies in April after
Continue ReadingBy Diksha Madhok, CNN Business Jeff Bezos wants to spot NASA up to $2 billion in a bid to reignite the battle for space between his rocket company Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The world’s richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars
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EL PASO, Texas — An El Paso company made the cowboy boots that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wore when he went to space this week. He wore the boots, that he bought a few years ago, while he was weightless inside Blue Origin’s New Shepard spaceship, which launched near Van Horn, about 100 miles east
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CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE RACE TO SPACE VAN HORN, Texas — Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft. The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother,
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VAN HORN, Texas — For years, the official letterhead for the small town of Van Horn, tucked neatly among the foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains, read simply: “Farming, ranching, mining.” And while there is still some farming and ranching in this Culberson County community, and a talc mine still operates near the edge of town,
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VAN HORN, Texas — It’s all systems “go” for Blue Origin’s lift off into space on Tuesday morning. New Shepard’s flight director gave his seal of approval. “My number one responsibility as flight director, is the safe execution of this mission and the safety of my launch crew, which includes our astronauts,” said Steve Lanis.
Continue ReadingVAN HORN, Texas — When Blue Origin launches people into space for the first time, founder Jeff Bezos will be on board. No test pilots or flight engineers for Tuesday’s debut flight from west Texas’ Culberson County, just Bezos, his brother, an 82-year-old aviation pioneer and a teenage tourist. The capsule is entirely automated, unlike Richard
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VAN HORN, Texas — The Culberson County Airport near Van Horn is bustling with activity as the launch of the Blue Origin rocket is just days away. Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos and a crew are set to go space next Tuesday morning. The director of the Culberson County Airport told ABC-7 that the
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VAN HORN, Texas — The countdown is on for the launch of the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket, which will be headed to space with billionaire Jeff Bezos on board. But securing a hotel room to stay in Van Horn to watch the launch may be challenging. Ask just about anyone in Van Horn about
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VAN HORN, Texas — Blue Origin revealed Thursday that the fourth member of its first crewed flight will be the youngest person ever to fly to space. That’s because the mystery bidder who put up a whopping $28 million for an 11-minute joy ride to the edge of space alongside Jeff Bezos will not make
Continue ReadingEL PASO, Texas — Jeff Bezos is poised to become the second billionaire to fly to space in the span of nine days, following the trail by billionaire Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic crew. The launch, scheduled for Tuesday, July 20 will be propelled in part by UTEP alumni. “Three quarters of the
Continue ReadingALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico — New Mexico spent $1.5 million to advertise the state during the Virgin Galactic space launch last Sunday. The spending paid to have the state’s logo on screen during the flight’s broadcast. The flight saw Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson briefly rocket into space aboard the company’s winged space plane for the first time.
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