Tag: Russia
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Rocket Report: China leaps into rocket reuse; 19 people are currently in orbit
Welcome to Edition 7.11 of the Rocket Report! Outside of companies owned by American billionaires, the most imminent advancements in reusable rockets are coming from China’s quasi-commercial launch industry. This industry is no longer nascent. After initially relying on solid-fueled rocket motors apparently derived from Chinese military missiles, China’s privately funded launch firms are testing…
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Rocket Report: ULA is losing engineers; SpaceX is launching every two days
Welcome to Edition 7.07 of the Rocket Report! SpaceX has not missed a beat since the Federal Aviation Administration gave the company a green light to resume Falcon 9 launches after a failure last month. In 19 days, SpaceX has launched 10 flights of the Falcon 9 rocket, taking advantage of all three of its…
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With a landmark launch, the Pentagon is finally free of Russian rocket engines
United Launch Alliance delivered a classified US military payload to orbit Tuesday for the last time with an Atlas V rocket, ending the Pentagon’s use of Russian rocket engines as national security missions transition to all-American launchers. The Atlas V rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:45 am EDT…
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Russian Satellite Breakup Creates Debris Cloud in Low Earth Orbit
A recent analysis by private space situational awareness providers indicates that a defunct Russian remote sensing satellite, Resurs P1, experienced a significant breakup event in low Earth orbit, resulting in the creation of over 100 fragments of debris. The incident, detected on June 26 and initially reported by LeoLabs, is believed to have been caused…
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Russia Plans New Orbital Space Station by 2030 Amid ISS Departure
Russia aims to establish the core of its new orbital space station by 2030, announced its Roscosmos space agency on Tuesday, signaling a significant shift as it prepares to depart from the International Space Station (ISS). Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov approved a timetable with 19 enterprises involved in the station’s creation, outlining plans to launch…
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Russia Aims for Over 40 Space Launches in 2024, Unveils Plans for Reusable Rockets
Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos has announced ambitious plans for 2024, aiming to conduct over 40 space launches as part of a concerted effort to revitalize the country’s presence in the global space industry. In an interview with local media on Monday, Yury Borisov, director general of Roscosmos, emphasized the importance of avoiding launch delays…
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Let’s unpack some questions about Russia’s role in North Korea’s rocket program
Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly visit North Korea later this month, and you can bet collaboration on missiles and space programs will be on the agenda. The bilateral summit in Pyongyang will follow a mysterious North Korean rocket launch on May 27, which ended in a fireball over the Yellow Sea. The fact that…
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Let’s unpack some questions about Russia’s role in North Korea’s rocket program
Russian President Vladimir Putin will reportedly visit North Korea later this month, and you can bet collaboration on missiles and space programs will be on the agenda. The bilateral summit in Pyongyang will follow a mysterious North Korean rocket launch on May 27, which ended in a fireball over the Yellow Sea. The fact that…
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Rocket Report: North Korean rocket explosion; launch over Chinese skyline
Welcome to Edition 6.46 of the Rocket Report! It looks like we will be covering the crew test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft and the fourth test flight of SpaceX’s giant Starship rocket over the next week. All of this is happening as SpaceX keeps up its cadence of flying multiple Starlink missions per week.…
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US officials: A Russian rocket launch last week likely deployed a space weapon
The launch of a classified Russian military satellite last week deployed a payload that US government officials say is likely a space weapon. In a series of statements, US officials said the new military satellite, named Kosmos 2576, appears to be similar to two previous “inspector” spacecraft launched by Russia in 2019 and 2022. “Just…