NASA Orion: Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS)

Artist concept of the NASA Orion spacecraft. 

The ICPS will boost the Orion to the correct altitude and trajectory needed to send the spacecraft around the moon in order to check out vital systems during the initial test flights. 

Image courtesy NASA. 

Some elements of a rocket can be familiar, like the boosters and engines, but there are several important parts on NASA's new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), that may be less widely known. The interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) pdf.

If the SLS was dissected, the ICPS lies just below the Orion capsule, at the top of the SLS.

The ICPS is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based system.

On the first test mission of Orion and SLS together, called Exploration Mission-1, the ICPS will give Orion the big push needed to fly beyond the moon before the spacecraft returns to Earth.

For later long-duration missions in deep space, this interim stage will be replaced with a more powerful upper stage on SLS needed to carry crews and their spacecraft farther than ever before, including to an asteroid and ultimately Mars.

Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

For the ICPS, The Boeing Co. will modify its existing Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS), used on United Launch Alliance's Delta IV family of launch vehicles.

It will be powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL-10B2 engine, also currently used on the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage.

"Boeing's Delta Cryogenic Second Stage will need relatively minor modifications to be fully compliant with SLS requirements, which will keep us on schedule for the first two flights," said Chris Calfee, ICPS project manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Marshall manages the SLS Program for the agency.

Those modifications include lengthening the liquid hydrogen tank, adding hydrazine bottles for attitude control and making some minor avionics changes to meet the design parameters and performance characteristics as needed by NASA to meet the flight objectives.

"Affordability is key when a rocket as big and powerful as the SLS is needed for sustainable deep space exploration," said Steve Creech, assistant SLS Program manager for strategy and partnerships at Marshall.

"By using existing hardware and technology, we aim to create a multipurpose vehicle that can demonstrate the capabilities of this flexible system on early mission objectives."

NASA's baseline plan is to use an ICPS for SLS on the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1, with an option for a second ICPS that may be used for a crewed Exploration Mission-2.

NASA continues to examine its timeline for integrating an upper stage and evolving SLS towards a 130-metric-ton (143 ton) version that will send humans to Mars.

NASA recently signed a contract agreement with Boeing for the ICPS, completing all definitisation contracts for the major SLS elements.

The interim cryogenic propulsion stage is managed under the SLS Program by the Spacecraft and Payload Integration and Evolution Office at Marshall.

The first flight test of the SLS will feature a configuration for a 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capacity and carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft beyond low-Earth orbit to test the performance of the integrated system.

As the SLS evolves, it will provide an unprecedented lift capability of 130 metric tons (143 tons) to enable missions even farther into our solar system.

New Commercial Rocket Descent Data Helps NASA with Future Mars Landings

NASA successfully captured thermal images of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its descent after it launched in September from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The data from these thermal images may provide critical engineering information for future missions to the surface of Mars.

"Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical," said Robert Braun, principal investigator for NASA's Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.

"This is the first high-fidelity data set of a rocket system firing into its direction of travel while traveling at supersonic speeds in Mars-relevant conditions."

"Analysis of this unique data set will enable system engineers to extract important lessons for the application and infusion of supersonic retro-propulsion into future NASA missions."

NASA equipped two aircraft with advanced instrumentation to document re-entry of the rocket's first stage.

The first stage is the part of the rocket that is ignited at launch and burns through the rocket's ascent until it runs out of propellant, at which point it is discarded from the second stage and returns to Earth.

During its return, or descent, NASA captured quality infrared and high definition images and monitored changes in the smoke plume as the engines were turned on and off.

Thermal imagery of the Space X Falcon 9 first stage performing propulsive descent Sept. 21. 

Supersonic retropropulsion data obtained from this flight test is being analyzed by NASA to design future Mars landing systems.

Image Credit: NASA

"NASA's interest in building our Mars entry, descent and landing capability and SpaceX's interest and experimental operation of a reusable space transportation system enabled acquisition of these data at low cost, without standing up a dedicated flight project of its own," said Charles Campbell, PDT project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

NASA's Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, had their eyes, cameras and telescopes trained on the Falcon with the help of two long-range aircraft provided by NASA and the U.S. Navy.

A NASA WB-57, a twin jet engine high-altitude research aircraft from Johnson, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system to capture the images. 

It is a unique full-motion video camera system that is gimbal-mounted on the nose of the WB-57. It collects full-color high definition and infrared video.

A Navy NP-3D Orion aircraft from the Naval Air Systems Command Weapons Division's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron-30 at Point Mugu, California, was equipped with a long-range infrared optical system and also took thermal images of the launch.

Russia Launches Proton-M with Military Satellite payload

Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Proton-M rocket carrying a satellite into orbit in the first such launch since one of the rockets fell back to Earth soon after liftoff in May.

The Proton-M rocket lifted off on schedule from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 am Moscow time (2023 GMT Saturday), carrying a Russian communications satellite, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

"At 09:26 Moscow time (0526 GMT), the satellite separated from the Briz-M upper-stage rocket and reached the set orbit," Roscosmos said.

Russia had suspended launches of Proton-M rockets after one carrying one of the country's most advanced communications satellites failed less than 10 minutes after liftoff on May 16 and burnt up in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

The Proton is the workhorse of Russia's space industry, earning tens of millions of dollars a year by launching Western and Asian satellites.

The upgraded M version of the Proton has experienced a string of problems that have threatened Russia's reputation as a reliable and cost-effective alternative to US and European rockets.

This image describes the trajectory of the Luch-M data relay network, a previous Proton launch mission.

Credit: RussianSpaceWeb

Sunday’s payload is a Russian Aerospace Defence Forces' geostationary satellite known as Olimp-K (Luch).

According to a Komersant report, the satellite will serve a dual role: One being electronic intelligence (SIGINT) and the other is providing secure communications for governmental use.

The Luch designation has historically been used for satellites with a data relay role. Therefore, the Olimp-K designation might relate to the ELINT payload while the Luch designation relates to the data relay payload.

The Proton-M was previously grounded in July 2013 when it crashed back to Earth with three Russian-made Glonass navigation satellites.

The Proton-M which lifted off Sunday is making use of a Briz-M fourth stage.

The Briz-M consists of a central propulsion unit with a detachable torus-shaped propellant tank mounted around it.

All four of the Proton’s stages burn unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel, oxidised by dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4).

This propellant combination is hypergolic, meaning the propellants will spontaneously ignite on contact, however it is also highly toxic which has led to calls for the Proton to be withdrawn from use.

It is expected that the Angara rocket, which is currently undergoing testing, will eventually replace Proton.

France raises heat on decision for next Ariane rocket

France's space agency on Thursday unveiled a revised proposal for an Ariane rocket ahead of a tough decision on launchers by the European Space Agency (ESA).

Ministers must decide whether they can afford to fund the development of two projects for Europe's next rocket.



These are an Ariane 6, promoted by France, that would be operational from the next decade and an intermediate launcher, the Ariane 5 ME, backed by Germany.

At a press conference in Paris, France's National Centre for Space Study (CNES) said the overhauled plans for the Ariane 6 resulted in a "simple design with great payload capacity," able to take between five and 10 tonnes into orbit.

It could be ready for launch in 2020, said CNES boss Jean-Yve Le Gall, a date that is a year or two earlier than was expected in July 2013.

"We are looking at a two-booster version, with costs of around 65 million euros [$83.85 million] per launch, and a four-booster version, at around 85 million euros per launch," said Le Gall.

"The per-kilo cost will be around 10,000 euros, roughly half that of Ariane 5 today," he said, referring to ESA's current workhorse.

CNES' previous design for the Ariane 6 had promised a 30-percent gain on Ariane 5 per-kilo launch costs.

"The industrial and institutional organisation of the project will be simplified, with the goal being to save costs," Le Gall pledged.

He admitted there would have to be "compromises" in Luxembourg, adding that around eight billion euros will be earmarked for launchers for the next decade.

"We tend to want everything, but the means to do so aren't always there," he said.

The presentation came a day after a preparatory meeting at ESA where the revised plans were approved by other figures in the space industry, including the head of launch operator Arianespace, Stephane Israel.

The December 2 meeting in Luxembourg will determine the outcome of a difficult political compromise in 2013 between ESA's major partners as nimble US firms such as SpaceX eye the market for satellite launches.

The German-backed Ariane 5 ME, standing for Midlife Evolution, would be a tweaked version of the Ariane 5.

It would in theory be ready by 2017 and yield operational costs over the existing ECA and ES models, which are highly reliable but need hefty subsidies.

In February, France's national auditor disclosed that French policymakers favoured dropping the ME to keep down development costs and prevent a feared delay to the Ariane 6.

NASA Plans to test making rocket fuel ingredient on Mars

NASA plans to make oxygen, a key ingredient of rocket fuel, on Mars early next decade.

Space agency officials Thursday unveiled seven instruments they plan to put on a Martian rover that would launch in 2020, including two devices aimed at bigger Mars missions in the future.

The $1.9 billion rover will include an experiment that will turn carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into oxygen.

It could then be used to make rocket fuel and for future astronauts to breathe, said NASA associate administrator for exploration Bill Gerstenmaier.

Taking fuel to Mars for return flights is heavy and expensive.

The device, named MOXIE, works like an engine but in reverse, said Michael Hecht, the scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is running the test project.

It will make about three-quarters of an ounce of oxygen an hour.

If it works, then a larger scale device, 100 times bigger than MOXIE, would be launched two years before astronauts go, currently slated for some time in the 2030s. NASA first plans to send astronauts to an asteroid.

The bigger device would start making enough oxygen for the return trip before astronauts ever launch to Mars, Hecht said.

The other part of rocket fuel, the propellant, can be made from light hydrogen that is brought from Earth or other chemicals mined from Martian dirt or atmosphere.

John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said the new rover, a clone of the chassis of the current Curiosity machine, "will lead to getting humans to Mars in the future."

Mars on average is about 140 million miles from Earth and opportunities to send spaceships to there come only every 26 months. The trip to Mars takes about 9 months, but can be as short as half a year.

The rover is scheduled to land on Mars in 2021.

NASA also plans to collect interesting rocks, put them in sealed vials for future flights to pick them up and return them to Earth for detailed study.

This would likely be another robotic mission or it could just wait for astronauts. NASA hasn't yet figured out how the rover will store the rocks.

Peacekeeper Post Boost Propulsion System (PBPS): Making ICBMs Safe

Receipt of PBPS at WSTF Test Stand 328. 

Image courtesy NASA.

NASA Johnson Space Center's White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) contracted with the United States Air Force (USAF) to make safe the Peacekeeper Post Boost Propulsion System (PBPS) stages in the next four years.

This will be done by de-tanking hypergolic rocket propellants, venting helium tanks and expending the ordnance.

In this way the stage can be destroyed by the USAF plus, reusable hardware and propellants could be harvested.

WSTF was selected by Hill Air Force Base (AFB) to make safe the PBPS stages because the facility was familiar with the stage from aging and surveillance hot-fire testing during Peacekeeper's deployment in the early 2000s.

WSTF's unique background and expertise in hypergol handling and safety, and the site's ability to hot-fire hypergol rocket systems using the propellants, made WSTF the logical choice for the safing project.

WSTF also provided the decontamination and deservicing operations for space shuttle orbital maneuvering system pods after completion of the Space Shuttle Program in 2011.

With existing storage and handling facilities for hypergolic rocket propellants, along with the necessary environmental permits in place for hazardous test operations, the remote location and controlled access of WSTF made it highly suitable for this type of work.

PEACEKEEPER Background
In 1986, the LGM-118A Peacekeeper was the newest Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) deployed by the USAF.

At the end of the Cold War, the United States revised its strategic policy and agreed to eliminate the multiple re-entry vehicle Peacekeeper ICBMs by 2003 as part of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty II (START II).

The missiles were deactivated, disassembled and shipped to Hill AFB in Utah. With the removal of the Peacekeeper from service, the Air Force Program Office at Hill AFB in Utah had to find methods for the disposal of the various Peacekeeper systems, as the START II required.

This included disposal of both solid propellant and hypergolic rocket propellant systems. As part of the treaty, the USAF was required to demilitarize the Peacekeeper PBPS.

ISRO: India launches cutting-edge cryogenic rocket

India on Sunday successfully launched its first rocket using domestically produced booster technology after several previous missions had failed, taking another step forward in its ambitious space programme.

The Indian-made cryogenically-powered rocket blasted off from the southern Satish Dhawan spaceport of Sriharikota as scheduled, as Delhi tries to join an elite club of countries which have mastered the complex technology.

The 415-tonne rocket deployed a two-tonne advanced communications satellite some 17 minutes after blast-off, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr K. Radhakrishnan.

"I am extremely proud and happy to say that Team ISRO has done it," Radhakrishnan announced at mission control in Andhra Pradesh state, sparking a roar of applause from colleagues.

"Team ISRO and the project directors all have put their heart and soul in making this proud moment for the country," he said.

Dr K. Radhakrishnan

India has for years been trying to develop its own cryogenic rocket engines that are designed to put heavier satellites into high orbits, about 36,000 kilometres (22,000 miles) from Earth.

The powerful booster technology, using super-cooled liquid fuel, is a much needed tool to help India capture a larger share of the lucrative global market for launching commercial satellites.

But the technology has only been successfully developed by a handful of countries including the United States, Russia, France, Japan and China as well as the European Space Agency (ESA).

India's project has had to overcome a string of hurdles and mishaps, including an aborted launch in August last year several hours before lift-off after fuel was found to be leaking from one of the rocket's engines.

The first India-built rocket crashed into the Bay of Bengal just minutes after take-off in April 2010 after the cryogenic engines failed to ignite.

"If we succeed this time, India will join a select club of space-faring nations with indigenous cryogenic engine capability to launch above two-tonne class satellites," ISRO director Deviprasad Karnik told reporters before the launch.

"The twin purpose of this launch mission is to flight-test once again our own cryogenic engine and put into the geostationary orbit a heavy communication satellite," Karnik added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the team on Sunday's mission, which cost 3.65 billion rupees ($58 million) -- 2.2 billion rupees for the rocket and 1.45 billion rupees for the satellite.

"It is yet another important step that the country has taken in the area of science and technology," Singh said.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher: Launch aborted after engine trouble

Topped with a television broadcasting satellite, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket fired its engines and was moments away from liftoff from Cape Canaveral on Thursday, but the commercial booster aborted the launch after computers detected the engines were too slow building up thrust.

Engineers raced to understand and resolve the problem, but they could not get comfortable enough to attempt the launch again before Thursday's time-constrained flight opportunity closed.

Officials had not announced a new target launch date Thursday evening, but SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk posted on his Twitter account the mission would likely be delayed a few days.

SpaceX was targeting liftoff of the 22-story rocket at 5:39 p.m. EST (2239 GMT) Thursday, aiming to achieve the first Thanksgiving Day launch from Florida's Space Coast since 1959.

The launch was pushed back to Thursday after multiple technical problems thwarted an initial launch attempt Monday.

Russian Soyuz TMA-11M Rocket Launches Expedition 38 crew to ISS

A Russian Soyuz TMA-11M rocket launches carrying the new Expedition 38 crew for the International Space Station at 11:14 p.m. EST on Nov. 6, 2013.

They also had on board the Olympic torch for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and are expected to perform a number of stunts to advertise this event

The rocket carrying Expedition 38 flight engineers Rick Masstrachio of NASA, Koichi Wakata of Japan and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.

Soyuz Rocket Ready to Launch New Station Crew

The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket, adorned with the logo of the Sochi Olympic Organizing Committee and other related artwork, is seen in this long exposure photograph, as the service structure arms are raised into position at the launch pad on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for November 7 and will send Expedition 38 Soyuz Commander Mikhail Tyurin of Roscosmos, Flight Engineer Rick Mastracchio of NASA and Flight Engineer Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on a six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

The crew is to take part in an Olympic torch stunt, and spacewalkers Kotov and Ryazanskiy will carry a lit torch outside the station on Saturday. 

The remainder of the torch stunt will be the return to Earth with Expedition 37, where, allegedly, the same flame will light the receptacle at the opening of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

French Father Fires Kids' Toys into Space

A French father allowed his children to send their toys into space...and managed to retrieve them.

Nicholas L. sourced a helium-filled weather balloon from a US army surplus store, and a parachute and GPS tracker system was shipped from Hong Kong.

After fitting two GoPro waterproof cameras onto his makeshift spacecraft, he gathered his family in a French field and let his children launch the balloon.

The astronauts were an Angry Bird piggy character and a Hello Kitty toy.

The balloon ascends to a height of around 20,000 metres above sea level before popping and the parachute let it drift down into a crop field unharmed.

SpaceX's Reusable Falcon 9, 'Grasshopper' Rocket, Leaps Sideways - NASA Video

An experimental reusable rocket built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX has soared though a series of ever-higher test flights over its Texas launch site, but it may have just taken its most awesome leap yet: a sideways rocket hop.

Nicknamed Grasshopper, the rocket prototype successfully performed a sideways "divert" test yesterday (Aug. 13) at SpaceX's proving grounds in McGregor, Texas. SpaceX released an amazing video of the sideways Grasshopper rocket flight today (Aug. 14).

The new video shows SpaceX's Grasshopper launching to an altitude of 820 feet (250 meters). The rocket then went into a hover mode, moved 328 feet (100 m) sideways, and then returned back to the center of its launch pad. From launch to landing, the flight lasted just over one minute.

The Grasshopper rocket, which is officially known as the Falcon 9 test rig at SpaceX, stands roughly 10 stories tall and its large size presents a challenge of control for sideways maneuvers. SpaceX officials said in a statement that the test proved "the vehicle's ability to perform more aggressive steering maneuvers than have been attempted in previous flights."

"Diverts like this are an important part of the trajectory in order to land the rocket precisely back at the launch site after re-entering from space at hypersonic velocity," SpaceX officials added.

SpaceX's Grasshopper rocket is a prototype for a new launch system built around completely reusable rocket vehicles. The project aims to make spaceflight cheaper and more efficient than current systems that use expendable rockets that burn up in Earth's atmosphere after lifting their payloads into space, SpaceX CEO and founder Elon Musk has said.

The Grasshopper rocket incorporates the first-stage tank of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which is used to launch the company's robotic Dragon capsule on contracted cargo runs to the International Space Station for NASA.

The Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX holds a $1.6 billion NASA contract to make 12 unmanned deliveries to the orbiting outpost. It has flown two of those 12 flights so far.

Wednesday's test flight is the latest in a series of ever-more ambitious tests for the Grasshopper rocket system. In mid-June, the SpaceX's Grasshopper made its highest flight so far, reaching an altitude of 1,066 feet (325 m) before returning to its launch pad.

Raytheon rocket onboard camera - Video

Onboard video footage shows a rocket’s flight during the International Rocketry Challenge, held during the Paris Air Show on June 21, 2013, at Le Bourget Airport.

The goal of the challenge was to launch a rocket 750 feet in the air within a 48- to

Credit: Raytheon Company

North Korea's Unha-3 Rocket Launch System - Infographics

Credit: SPACE.com

North Korea launched a new long-range rocket on April 13, which it said carried the country's first Earth-orbiting satellite, but the rocket broke apart shortly after liftoff and crashed into the sea.

The Unha-3 rocket launch was scheduled to mark the 100th birthday of North Korea's founder Kim il-Sung, who founded the communist state in 1948 and sparked criticism from the U.S. and other countries over the rocket's potential use as a military weapon.

Learn some of the scant details available of North Korea's April 2012 rocket launch plan in the infographic above.

Soyuz Rolls Out at Kazakhstan

The Soyuz rocket is rolled out to the launch pad by train on Tuesday, March 26, 2013, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 

Launch of the Soyuz rocket is scheduled for March 29.

The Soyuz rocket will send Expedition 35 Soyuz Commander Pavel Vinogradov, and Flight Engineers Chris Cassidy of NASA and Alexander Misurkin of Russia on a five-and-a-half-month mission aboard the International Space Station.

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

USAF Cape Canaveral: First Stage of Atlas V rocket

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida, preparations are underway to erect the first stage of the Atlas V rocket that will carry the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, into orbit.

TDRS-K is the first of three next-generation communications satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for NASA.

The seven TDRS spacecraft currently in orbit provide tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth.

These include NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. TDRS-K has a high-performance solar panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet growing S-band communications requirements.

Image Credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

NASA ISS Expedition 34 Launch Image

Nasa's ISS Expedition 34 crew were launched from Baikonur.

The crew are on board a Soyuz TMA-07M Space Transportation Module and are sited to dock with the ISS tomorrow.

Expedition 34 crew members are pictured on the front row are NASA astronaut Kevin Ford (left), commander; and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield, flight engineer.

Pictured from the left (back row) are Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin, Roman Romanenko and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, all flight engineers.

North Korean Satellite Tumbling and now Space Debris

Kwangmyongsong-3, the North Korean satellite launched into space by the Unha-3 rocket last week, is out of control and most likely dead, astronomers reported Monday.

The apparent failure will not cause the spacecraft to fall quickly back to earth but represents a major setback in Pyongyang’s bid to portray the launching as a patriotic and technological success.

“It’s tumbling and we haven’t picked up any transmissions,” said Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks global rocket launchings and space activity. “Those two things are most consistent with the satellite being entirely inactive at this point.”

North Korea’s state-run press, which was preoccupied on Monday with reporting on the somber one-year anniversary of the death of Kim Jong-il, the longtime leader, said nothing about the satellite’s dysfunction.

It has been describing the satellite launch as a triumphal achievement of Mr. Kim’s successor, his son Kim Jong-un, done in the face of worldwide criticism and United Nations sanctions on the North’s ballistic missile program.

The satellite, said to be about the size of a washing machine, reportedly carries an onboard camera to observe the earth. That mission requires the spacecraft’s orbit to be rock-steady.

Dr. McDowell said the tumbling implies that onboard systems meant to control and stabilise the craft had failed.

He added that radio astronomers had picked up no signals from the satellite and that optical astronomers had observed it brightening and dimming as it slowly tumbled end over end.

“It’s clear that the rocket part of this mission worked very well for the North Koreans,” Dr. McDowell said in an interview.

“They ended up in the right orbit. But the preponderance of the evidence suggests that the satellite failed either during the ascent or shortly afterwards.”

North Korea's Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket

The first stage of North Korea's Unha-3 rocket is seen at the Second Fleet Command's naval base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea 

Picture: Yeong-Wook/DongA Daily/Getty Images

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un smokes a cigarette at the General Satellite Control and Command Centre at West Sea Satellite Launch Site in Cholsan county, North Pyongan province, after the launch of the Unha-3 (Milky Way 3) rocket carrying the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite 

Picture: REUTERS/KCNA

SpaceX Dragon Capsule Readies for Flight

Technicians attach the Dragon capsule to a Falcon 9 rocket at the SpaceX facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., during preparations for the CRS-1 mission.

SpaceX is set to launch the first of a dozen operational missions for NASA to deliver more than 1,000 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station on Oct. 7.

Launch time is 8:35 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, just a few miles south of the space shuttle launch pads.

The spacecraft will be joined to the station three days later.

Image Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett