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The Air Force expected to use the Space Shuttle to launch large satellites, and required it to be capable of lifting 29,000 kg (65,000 lb) to an eastward LEO or 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) into a polar orbit. The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay.
The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. [ 1 ]
Now operated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. [61] United States: White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico: 1945– 7500+ Military and civilian flights. Served as alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle. [62] United States
Non-launch costs account for a significant part of the program budget: for example, during fiscal years 2004 to 2006, NASA spent around $13 billion on the Space Shuttle program, [19] even though the fleet was grounded in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster and there were a total of three launches during this period of time. In fiscal year ...
The inaugural polar-orbit flight, designated STS-62-A and using Space Shuttle Discovery with Shuttle veteran Robert Crippen as commander, was planned for 15 October 1986. However, the Challenger disaster of 28 January 1986 grounded the Shuttle fleet as efforts were concentrated on recovery and returning the program to flight after a two-year ...
The MILA tracking station with the Vehicle Assembly Building in the distance.. The Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network station, known in NASA parlance as MILA, was a radio communications and spacecraft tracking complex located on 61 acres (0.25 km 2) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. [1]
The Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida has a single 15,000-foot (4,600 m) concrete runway, 15/33. [2] It is designated Runway 15 or 33, depending on the direction of use. The first landing at the SLF was for mission STS-41B in 1984; landings were suspended at the site following brake damage and a blown tire during ...
SpaceX is potentially targeting Thursday, Nov. 21, to launch a batch of Starlink internet satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Depending on cloud cover, weather and visibility, people in the ...