[ad_1] There’s clearly a pragmatic incentive to allow reused rockets. The Space Force expects to save $52.7 million for the GPS III missions alone. It might also be difficult to insist on brand new rockets. SpaceX is shifting its focus to Starship, and might not be eager to make more Falcon 9 rockets than necessary. […]
Category: rocket
SpaceX scales back plans for Starship’s first high-altitude flight
[ad_1] You might want to dial back your expectations for the first high-altitude SpaceX Starship flight. Elon Musk now says the flight with the SN8 prototype will top out at 15km, or close to 50,000ft, instead of the 18km and 60,000ft he’d mentioned earlier. It’s not clear what prompted the lowered expectations, but Musk added […]
SpaceX’s next Starship prototype will try a 60,000-foot return flight
[ad_1] SpaceX is nearly done with short-hop Starship test flights. Elon Musk has shared (via TechCrunch) that the company’s SN8 Starship prototype should be finished in “about a week,” and will conduct Starship’s first high-altitude flight. After static fire tests and checkouts, SpaceX will attempt a 60,000-foot return trip with the rocket. The machine will […]
Space startup Astra’s first orbital rocket launch ends prematurely
[ad_1] Astra stressed that it didn’t expect to reach orbit with its first rocket. It anticipated three flights before reaching that milestone. The mission still ended sooner than expected, though, and the company positioned the premature end as a chance to collect “valuable experience” and flight data. It remained confident that could can reach orbit […]
Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket makes successful return to flight
[ad_1] The Electron booster’s payload was the “Sequoia” satellite from San Francisco-based Capella Space. The mission was called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Optical,” because the satellite uses synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and not optical lenses to provide detailed Earth images. “Capella’s space-based radar can detect sub-0.5 meter changes on the surface of the Earth, […]
Watch ULA abort a rocket launch at the last moment
[ad_1] Most rocket launch aborts are largely uneventful, but United Launch Alliance’s latest was… dramatic. The spaceflight outfit had to abort its NROL-44 mission (via Parabolic Arc) just three seconds before it was due to start, with the Delta IV rocket’s initiators already covering the vehicle in flames — the crew even declared “liftoff” without […]
How NASA knows when it’s a ‘go’ for launch
[ad_1] Between ferrying NASA researchers to the ISS and seeding the night skies with its Starlink satellites, SpaceX especially will have its hands full. But it’s not like we can launch rockets into space whenever we feel like it. In fact, NASA has developed a strict set of criteria that must be met before they […]
Rocket Lab will resume launches no sooner than August 27th
[ad_1] If all goes according to plan, Rocket Lab will resume flights less than two months after an “anomaly” led to an Electron rocket failing shortly after launch, destroying its payload in the process. The company eventually pinpointed an electrical connection as the cause. A fast turnaround might have been necessary. While Rocket Lab had […]
Rocket Lab mission fails shortly after launch
[ad_1] The rocket had been carrying payloads for three customers, most notably Canon. It was supposed to be demonstrating an Earth imaging camera system ahead of plans for mass production. Planet was expanding its giant constellation of Earth observation satellites, while In-Space was launching its first cubesat mission as part of an initiative to help […]
EU will speed up its spaceflight plans in response to SpaceX and China
[ad_1] The modern space race is heating up, and the European Union is acutely aware that it needs to keep pace. Space chief Thierry Breton told Reuters in an interview that the EU is accelerating its plans in light of rapid progress by private companies like SpaceX as well as China’s successes. It’s moving the […]