Author: Ken Kremer

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news. Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics. Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events.

Boeing Starliner Crew Test Article Completes Hot Fire Testing

Boeing teams ran multiple tests on Starliner’s in-space maneuvering system and the spacecraft’s launch abort system on May 23, 2019 at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Photo credit: Boeing  Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 2 June 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Boeing engineers completed a lengthy series of hot fire tests on the propulsion system of Starliner

Legless SpaceX Falcon 9 Lowered Horizontal in Record Turnaround Time and Shipped Back to Cape in ‘Dance’ with Payload Fairings

Recovered SpaceX Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage is tilted and lowered horizontally by two cranes and crews working together around 5 PM EDT May 29, 2019 one day after arriving vertical atop OCISLY droneship into Port Canaveral, FL on May 28. Note: 9 Merlin 1D engines fully exposed.   From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com &

Recovered Starlink Falcon 9 and Fairings Simultaneously Craned off Recovery Ships, Landing Legs Detached: Photos

Newly recovered/returned Starlink Falcon 9 1st stage (r) and 1 of 2 recovered payload fairings (l) simultaneously go airborne – another space first – as both are craned off SpaceX recovery ships OCISLY & GO Navigator around 415 PM EDT May 28, 2019. Falcon 9 first stage arrived noonish atop OCISLY into Port Canaveral. Note: 9 Merlin 1D engines fully exposed.   From May 23 SpaceX Starlink 1 launch.  Credit:

NASA Selects 3 Companies to Build Commercial Lunar Landers Advancing Artemis Moon Landing Program

Commercial landers will carry NASA-provided science and technology payloads to the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the Moon by 2024.  Credits: NASA Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 31 May 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL, FL –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced today the selection of the first 3 American companies contracted to build commercial robotic

SpaceX Thrice Flown and Landed 1st Stage from Starlink Sails into Port Canaveral: Photos

UpClose with Octagrabber arms grasping upright thrice flown/landed  Falcon 9 booster 1049.3 standing upright on the OCISLY droneship from SpaceX Starlink 1 launch May 23, 2019 arrived in Port Canaveral, FL around noontime May 28. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 29 May 2019 PORT CANAVERAL/CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL –  SpaceX’s thrice flown and thrice landed

Starlink Broadband Constellation Begins with 1st Blast Off on SpaceX Falcon 9: Photo/Video Gallery

9 Merlin 1D engines and 1 Gripper arm + Fire & Ice – Up Close look at SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink 1 launch on 23 May 2019 at 1030 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL that successfully delivered 1st 60 Starlink broadband satellites to LEO. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 26

NASA Chooses Maxar to Build 1st Element for Artemis Lunar Gateway

The power and propulsion element provides a communications relay capability for NASA’s Gateway, enabling it to serve as a mobile command and service module for human and robotic expeditions to the lunar surface.  Credits: NASA Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 24 May 2019 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced that Maxar Technologies has been chosen

1st Starlink Broadband Satellites Streak to Orbit on Twice Flown SpaceX Falcon 9: Photos

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks to orbit with 1st batch of 60 SpaceX manufactured Starlink broadband satellites in this long exposure  image after liftoff at 10:30 p.m. ET on May 23, 2019 from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL on Starlink-1 mission.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 23 May 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL

Elon Musk Details SpaceX Revolutionary and Experimental Starlink Broadband Constellation, Launch Reset to May 23

UpClose look at payload fairing housing 60 Starlink-1 satellites for launch on SpaceX Falcon 9 reset to May 23, 2019 at Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.  Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 21 May 2019 CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL –  SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of next generation broadband satellites could revolutionize