Tag: Launch Vehicle Platforms
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Northrop Grumman’s 20th Cargo Resupply Mission Launched Successfully to the ISS
Northrop Grumman Corporation’s Cygnus cargo delivery spacecraft was successfully launched to the International Space Station by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This is the company’s 20th resupply mission, designated as NG-20. Under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Service-2 (CRS-2) contract, Cygnus is carrying more than…
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Firefly Aerospace Selected by NRO as Launch Provider with Alpha Rocket
Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, announced it was selected by the National Reconnaissance Office to serve as a launch provider with Firefly’s Alpha rocket. As part of the NRO’s Streamlined Launch Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity Contract (SLIC), the agreement has a 10-year ordering period with a ceiling value of $700 million across all firm…
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Exolaunch Awarded €18M Launch Services Contract by German Space Agency
Exolaunch, the Berlin-based global provider of launch mission management, integration, and deployment services, announced that it has been awarded a governmental contract under the Small Satellite Initiative run by the German Space Agency at DLR on behalf of the German Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK). This novel initiative, aimed at providing wide-ranging launch…
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Virgin Galactic Successfully Completes 11th Spaceflight Mission
Virgin Galactic Holdings, announced the completion of its first spaceflight of 2024 and 11th mission to date. The ‘Galactic 06’ flight marked the first time all four seats aboard VSS Unity were occupied by private astronauts. Onboard ‘Galactic 06’: Astronaut 023 – Lina Borozdina, Ukraine and Nevada, U.S. Astronaut 024 – Robie Vaughn, Texas, U.S.…
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Impulse Space Reveals Design Specifications for Its New High-Performance Kick Stage
Impulse Space, an innovator of in-space transportation services for the inner solar system, has unveiled the design specifications for its latest vehicle: Helios, a high-performance kick stage. Using a medium-lift launch vehicle, Helios is designed to take payloads of over 5 tons directly from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to Geostationary Orbit (GEO) in less than…
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Northrop Grumman’s Solid Rocket Boosters Power ULA’s Vulcan Rocket Maiden Launch
Two of Northrop Grumman Corporation’s extended-length, 63-inch-diameter Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM 63XL) solid rocket boosters helped power the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Rocket and the first certification (Cert-1) mission. The GEM 63XL boosters are the longest monolithic, single-cast solid rocket boosters ever manufactured and flown. The launch represents the first flight of…
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Einstein Probe Launches with a Mission to Monitor the X-ray Sky
The Chinese Academy of Sciences spacecraft Einstein Probe lifted off on a Chang Zheng (Long March) 2C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in China at 15:03 CST / 07:03 GMT / 08:03 CET on 9 January 2024. With the successful launch, Einstein Probe began its mission to survey the sky and hunt for…
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ISRO Successfully Flight Tests Fuel Cell in PSLV C58
ISRO has successfully tested a 100 W class Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell based Power System (FCPS) in its orbital platform, POEM3, launched onboard PSLV-C58 on January 1, 2024. The objective of the experiment was to assess Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel cell operation in space and to collect data to facilitate the design of systems…
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United Launch Alliance’s Next Generation Vulcan Rocket Successfully Launched
United Launch Alliance marked the beginning of a new era of space capabilities with the successful launch of its next-generation Vulcan rocket on Jan. 8 at 2:18 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Vulcan rocket provides industry-leading capabilities to deliver any payload, at any time, to any orbit.…
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Venus Aerospace and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center Collaborate on New Engine Tech
Venus Aerospace, one of the hypersonics leaders developing reusable hypersonic flight platforms, has partnered with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to achieve one of the longest sustained tests of a rotating detonation rocket engine. Venus designs and manufactures hypersonic engines and aircraft for research, defense, and commercial missions. The goal of this partnership was to…