Kazakhstan Permits Launch
Kazakhstan officials have decided to permit the launch of a Russian Progress supply ship to restock Mir – but only after Moscow agrees to pay the $115 million price to use the Baikonur cosmodrome launch facility. The current Mir crew would have need to leave the station early if the ship hadn’t launched by July 20th.
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Weather Satellite Launch Delayed
Originally planned for launch in May, an American weather satellite, the GOES-L, has been delayed until October. The satellite would have used the same upper stage as the recent string of launch failures, so officials have decided to wait as the GOES-L’s upper stage is investigated and repaired.
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Amateur Rocketeers Keep Trying
The X-Prize will award $10 million to the first private rocket to launch a human into space, 100km above the Earth’s surface. Two amateur rocketeers lost their rocket when it exploded on the pad. Designed to fly above 20,000 feet, the rocket was their first step on the long road to the X-Prize.