SpaceX takes fourth shot at Falcon 9 launch

SpaceX on Friday test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket's engine for the 11:15 a.m. Monday launch of commercial satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Florida Today live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 launch.

The launch attempt comes about three weeks after two countdowns scrubbed and a third was postponed due to technical and weather problems. The mission has experienced delays since May.

It's the first of two SpaceX launches for Orbcomm Inc., a New Jersey-based provider of machine-to-machine networks that track products shipped around the world and monitor the health of heavy machinery.

The 224-foot Falcon 9 rocket is carrying the first six of 17 Orbcomm Generation 2 satellites upgrading the company's existing constellation in low Earth orbit.

After launch, SpaceX will try to steer the Falcon 9's first stage to a soft landing in the Atlantic Ocean for recovery by ships, a step toward developing a reusable booster.

Antares targeting launch today

UPDATE: Space station cargo launches from Virginia

An Orbital Sciences rocket was scheduled to lift off from Virginia at 12:52 p.m. today (Sunday, July 13, 2014) with a load of cargo bound for the International Space Station.

The launch was delayed first by a failed test of an AJ26 engine used by the Antares rocket, and more recently by weather.

The mission is Orbital's second of eight under a $1.9 billion resupply contract. SpaceX's next resupply launch from the Cape is tentatively planned in August.

KSC honors Armstrong

NASA in May renamed its Dryden Flight Research Center after the late Neil Armstrong, the world's first moonwalker.

This month, Kennedy Space Center will take a turn honoring the legendary astronaut by renaming one of its storied facilities, the Operations and Checkout building.

Built in 1964, the "O&C" was used to process and test the command, service and lunar modules for Apollo missions and continued to serve as astronauts' crew quarters. Shuttle astronauts suited up for flight there before departing for the launch pad.

Armstrong's Apollo 11 crewmates Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, who launched from KSC 45 years ago on Wednesday atop a Saturn V rocket, will be on hand for a formal ceremony July 21.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and KSC Director bob Cabana, both former shuttle astronauts, also will make remarks.

New Falcon 9 flights deemed a success

SpaceX last week said the Air Force has confirmed that the company's first three flights of a new Falcon 9 rocket were a success.

That's a key milestone, but not the last step, in the company's effort to win Air Force certification that would allow it to compete with United Launch Alliance for launches of national security payloads.

SpaceX expects to meet the remaining certification requirements later this year. The process is continuing amid a lawsuit SpaceX filed alleging the Air Force improperly awarded ULA a 36-launch contract that will limit near-term opportunities for competition.

The Air Force has asked for the suit to be dismissed.

Asteroid ownership

U.S. Rep. Bill Posey last week introduced with the American Space Technology for Exploring Resource Opportunities in Deep Space (ASTEROIDS) Act of 2014, a bill that would establish property rights for future private asteroid miners.

Posey said the legislation introduced with Democrat Derek Kilmer of Washington State would promote private exploration and protect commercial rights.

"Asteroids are excellent potential sources of highly valuable resources and minerals," Posey, a member of the House Science, Space and Technology committee, said in a statement. "Our knowledge of asteroids — their number, location, and composition — has been increasing at a tremendous rate and space technology has advanced to the point where the private sector is now able to begin planning such expeditions."

Life on the ISS marks 5,000 days

Saturday marked the 5,000th consecutive day of humans living aboard the International Space Station, dating back to November 2000.

Some 1,600 experiments involving 1,500 scientific researchers from 82 countries have been completed during that time, NASA says.

"It's an amazing feat to be able to already have completed so much science," said Kirt Costello, NASA's assistant International Space Station Program scientist. "We have more wonderful discoveries to come."

Wanted: Private astronauts

Private space station developer Bigelow Aerospace has hired two former NASA astronauts, Space News reported last week.

Kenneth Ham and George Zamka each piloted or commanded two shuttle missions. Ham is leaving the U.S. Naval Academy's Aerospace Engineering Department, Zamka a position in the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

North Las Vegas-based Bigelow hopes to finish building its first two BA330 inflatable station modules by 2017, according to the report. The company may hire more astronauts this year.

Senate to review RD-180 risks

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson this week will co-chair a joint hearing by Senate committees on discussing "Options for Assuring Domestic Space Access."

The hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday "will consider the current state of the U.S. launch enterprise and the risks posed to U.S. space operations by relying on the Russian RD-180 rocket engine," according to a press release.

The RD-180 is a Russian-built engine used by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket, the most frequent launcher of U.S. national security missions. Russian officials have threatened to cut off its supply for that purpose, prompting Congress to consider funding development of a new American rocket engine.

UCF students selected for program

A University of Central Florida student team was among 10 selected last week by NASA's Undergraduate Student Instrument Program to develop and fly a science payload on suborbital platforms including sounding rockets, balloons, aircraft, zero-g aircraft and suborbital reusable launch vehicles.

UCF's experiment, titled "Microgravity experiment on accretion in space environments," will fly on a parabolic aircraft. All the program's flights were expected by Spring 2015.

Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com.