News Archive / Author: Derek Richardson
Derek Richardson has a degree in mass media, with an emphasis in contemporary journalism, from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. While at Washburn, he was the managing editor of the student run newspaper, the Washburn Review. He also has a blog about the International Space Station, called Orbital Velocity. He met with members of the SpaceFlight Insider team during the flight of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket with the MUOS-4 satellite. Richardson joined our team shortly thereafter. His passion for space ignited when he watched Space Shuttle Discovery launch into space Oct. 29, 1998. Today, this fervor has accelerated toward orbit and shows no signs of slowing down. After dabbling in math and engineering courses in college, he soon realized his true calling was communicating to others about space. Since joining SpaceFlight Insider in 2015, Richardson has worked to increase the quality of our content, eventually becoming our managing editor. @TheSpaceWriter
Articles By Derek Richardson
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Huh? Trump says NASA should stop talking about the Moon
June 7th, 2019For 18 months, NASA has been focused on returning humans to the Moon under Space Policy Directive 1—signed by President Trump. Is he changing course?
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NASA selects companies for commercial Moon landing services
June 3rd, 2019The first commercial Moon landing missions under NASA’s Artemis program have been announced as precursors to human missions by 2024.
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Gallery: Northop Grumman tests OmegA first stage
May 31st, 2019PROMONTORY, Utah — In the Blue Spring Hills north of Salt Lake City, Northrop Grumman test fired the first stage of its OmegA rocket.
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Anomaly occurs during OmegA first stage static fire test
May 30th, 2019During the first static fire test for Northrop Grumman's OmegA first stage, debris could be seen coming away from the nozzle section of the booster.
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Stacking underway for next Atlas V launch
May 28th, 2019United Launch Alliance has begun assembling the Atlas V rocket that will be used to orbit the U.S. Air Force’s next advanced communications satellite.
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Video: SpaceFlight Insider’s Space Bulletin for May 25, 2019
May 25th, 2019This week, SpaceX launched its first Starlink internet satellites and NASA awarded a contract to build the first piece of the agency’s Lunar Gateway.
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Gallery: SpaceX begins launching its Starlink constellation
May 24th, 2019In the black of night, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 60 Starlink spacecraft to begin its satellite internet mega constellation.
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SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites
May 24th, 2019CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX made history again by launching the first 60 satellites of its Starlink satellite internet mega constellation.
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Lunar Gateway contract adds ‘power’ to Artemis program
May 23rd, 2019NASA awarded Maxar Technologies a contract for the first piece of the Lunar Gateway, which is designed to be a staging point for Moon-bound astronauts.
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India’s PSLV places RISAT-2B into orbit
May 22nd, 2019Launching its third rocket of 2019, the India Space Research Organisation (ISRO) sent the RISAT-2B spacecraft into low Earth orbit on May 22, which should provide Earth-imagining services to
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Video: SpaceFlight Insider’s Space Bulletin for May 18, 2019
May 18th, 2019It’s another Moon-heavy week with NASA’s “Moon by 2024” challenge getting a name, the agency’s 2020 budget request getting an amendment and more.
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Our SpaceFlight Heritage: Apollo 10 paves way for 1st human lunar landing
May 18th, 2019As NASA takes aim on the Moon with its Artemis program, it is important to remember the missions that paved the way for the agency's first manned landing. One of the most critical of these - was Apollo 10.
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Companies selected to study lunar landers for Artemis program
May 17th, 2019In order to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis program, NASA needs to get a jump start on the development of crew-rated lunar landers.
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Starlink launch scrubbed again
May 16th, 2019For the second day in a row, SpaceX has called off the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket with the first 60 Starlink satellites.
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High winds force scrub of 1st SpaceX Starlink mission
May 15th, 2019SpaceX's first batch of Starlink satellites need to wait another 24 hours before taking flight due to "excess upper level winds."
