Tag: rocket-report
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Rocket Report: Daytona rocket delayed again; Bahamas tells SpaceX to hold up
Welcome to Edition 7.40 of the Rocket Report! One of the biggest spaceflight questions in my mind right now is when Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket will fly again. The company has been saying “late spring.” Today, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel said they were told June. Several officials have suggested to Ars that the…
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Rocket Report: “No man’s land” in rocket wars; Isaacman lukewarm on SLS
Welcome to Edition 7.39 of the Rocket Report! Not getting your launch fix? Buckle up. We’re on the cusp of a boom in rocket launches as three new megaconstellations have either just begun or will soon begin deploying thousands of satellites to enable broadband connectivity from space. If the megaconstellations come to fruition, this will…
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Rocket Report: Next Starship flight to reuse booster; FAA clears New Glenn
Welcome to Edition 7.38 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX test fired a Super Heavy booster that launched in January on Thursday, in South Texas. This sets up the possibility of a reused Super Heavy rocket launching within the next several weeks, and would be an important step forward in the Starship launch program. It’s also…
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Rocket Report: Stoke is stoked; sovereignty is the buzzword in Europe
Welcome to Edition 7.37 of the Rocket Report! It’s been interesting to watch how quickly European officials have embraced ensuring they have a space launch capability independent of other countries. A few years ago, European government satellites regularly launched on Russian Soyuz rockets, and more recently on SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets from the United States.…
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Rocket Report: Falcon 9 may smash reuse record; Relativity roving to Texas?
Welcome to Edition 7.36 of the Rocket Report! Well, after nine months, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are finally back on Earth, safe and sound. This brings to conclusion one of the stranger and more dramatic human spaceflight stories in years. We’re glad they’re finally home, soon to be reunited with their families.…
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Rocket Report: ULA confirms cause of booster anomaly; Crew-10 launch on tap
Welcome to Edition 7.35 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX’s steamroller is still rolling, but for the first time in many years, it doesn’t seem like it’s rolling downhill. After a three-year run of perfect performance—with no launch failures or any other serious malfunctions—SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has suffered a handful of issues in recent months.…
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Rocket Report: Starship fails for a second time; what’s to blame for Vulcan delays?
Welcome to Edition 7.34 of the Rocket Report! What a day in space Thursday was. During the morning hours we saw the triumphant second flight of the Ariane 6 rocket, a pivotal moment for European sovereignty in space. Then Intuitive Machines had a partially successful landing on the Moon. And finally, on Thursday evening, SpaceX’s…
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Rocket Report: Rocket Lab’s news blitz; Starship mishap blamed on vibrations
Welcome to Edition 7.33 of the Rocket Report! Phew, what a week for Rocket Lab! The company released a bevy of announcements in conjunction with its quarterly earnings report Thursday. Rocket Lab is spending a lot of money to develop the medium-lift Neutron rocket, and as we’ll discuss below, a rocket landing platform and a new…
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Rocket Report: SpaceX lands in the Bahamas; ULA tests modified booster
Welcome to Edition 7.32 of the Rocket Report! It’s true that the US space program has always been political. Domestic and global politics have driven nearly all of the US government’s decisions on major space issues, most notably President John F. Kennedy’s challenge to land astronauts on the Moon amid intense Cold War competition with…
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Rocket Report: A blue mood at Blue; Stoke Space fires a shot over the bow
Welcome to Edition 7.31 of the Rocket Report! The unfortunate news this week concerns layoffs. Blue Origin announced a 10 percent cut in its workforce as the company aims to get closer to breaking even. More broadly in the space industry, there is unease about what the Trump administration’s cuts to NASA and other federal…