Tag: Space
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NASA moves swiftly to end DEI programs, asks employees to “report” violations
NASA’s acting administrator is moving swiftly to remove diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility—or DEIA—programs from the space agency. In an email sent to agency employees on Wednesday afternoon, acting administrator Janet Petro wrote, “We are taking steps to close all agency DEIA offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders…
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Satellite firm bucks miniaturization trend, aims to build big for big rockets
A potentially disruptive satellite company launched its first spacecraft last week as part of a Transporter mission flown on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The demonstration mission from a California-based firm named K2 aims to “burn down” the risk of the technology that will fly on the company’s first full-sized satellite. So far, so good, but…
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Rocket Report: Starship experiences a RUD; Blue Origin nails its debut launch
Welcome to Edition 7.27 of the Rocket Report! Thursday was an eventful day in super heavy lift launch, with Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket having a highly successful debut launch before dawn in Florida, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Then, on Thursday afternoon, an upgraded Starship took flight from South Texas. The first stage…
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Firm developing a fully reusable rocket raises a quarter of a billion dollars
A Washington-based launch company announced Wednesday that it has raised $260 million in Series C funding, a significant capital raise at a time when it has become more difficult for some space companies to attract funding. “The market is tough, but I think what we’re doing is poised to go straight to the end state…
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Blue Origin reaches orbit on first flight of its titanic New Glenn rocket
Early on Thursday morning, a Saturn V-sized rocket ignited its seven main engines, a prelude to lifting off from Earth. But then, the New Glenn rocket didn’t move. And still, the engines produced their blue flame, furiously burning away methane. The thrust-to-weight ratio of the rocket must have been in the vicinity of 1.0 to…
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New Glenn to make another launch attempt early Thursday
Blue Origin announced late on Monday afternoon that it planned to make a second attempt to launch the New Glenn rocket at 1 am ET (06:00 UTC) on Tuesday. But then, a couple of hours later, the company said it would move the launch to Thursday. Although the company provided no information about why it…
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A NASA astronaut may have just taken the best photo from space—ever
People who appreciate good astrophotography will no doubt be familiar with the work of Don Pettit, a veteran NASA astronaut who is closing in on having lived 500 days of his life in space. Pettit is now in the midst of his third stint on the International Space Station, and the decade he had to…
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An icy vent line may have caused Blue Origin to scrub debut launch of New Glenn
COCOA BEACH, Fla.—With 45 minutes left in a three-hour launch window, Blue Origin scrubbed its first attempt to launch the massive New Glenn rocket early on Monday morning. Throughout the window, which opened at 1 am ET (06:00 UTC), the company continued to reset the countdown clock as launch engineers worked out technical issues with…
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A glowing ring of metal fell to Earth, and no one has any idea what it is
It has been more than a week since reports first emerged about a “glowing ring of metal” that fell from the sky and crashed near a remote village in Kenya. According to the Kenya Space Agency, the object weighed 1,100 pounds (500 kg) and had a diameter of more than 8 feet (2.4 meters) when…
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Italy’s plan to buy Starlink data deals a serious blow to European space network
The Italian government is considering the purchase of satellite Internet services from SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, and the potential deal has triggered controversy along political, economic, and spaceflight lines in Europe. The story was initially broken by Bloomberg on Sunday, which reported that Italy is in “advanced talks” with SpaceX to purchase $1.6 billion worth of…